A Burnham-On-Sea greengrocer has stopped displaying fresh fruit and veg outside its shop following a spate of thefts.
Gardiner-Whites in the High Street has sold locally produced food and vegetables since October 2017.
But the store’s owners, Richard and Jax Gardiner-White, have taken the decision to no longer display produce outside their shop due to “excessive levels of thefts.”
Jax, pictured, added: “We have had constant problems with thefts of fruit from the display outside the shop.”
“The last two weeks have been ridiculous – we have tried our best to keep selling produce from outside the shop but due to excessive levels of thefts from the front we have no choice but to keep all stock inside.”
“Some people have even being taking a bite from the apples and then putting them back on the display which is horrible.”
She added: “It seems that some people have been taking liberty of our good nature and it really disheartens us. We can’t carry on losing money like this so the display racks will soon be removed altogether. It may reduce our passing trade, but it’s sadly the right decision.”
“We caught one thief stealing £15-20 worth of cheese from inside the shop and have had ice cream tubs stolen from the freezer compartment. We are a small family business and for us even the smallest theft really harms our business.”
A new security initiative to help shops in the town centre communicate information about thefts between each other is being planned.
