Shoplifting in Cambridgeshire has increased by 30 per cent in the space of a year, impacting businesses across the county, figures have found.

The Office for National Statistics has released data on recorded crime numbers for the year ending March 2024. The numbers reveal that the areas hit hardest by shoplifting are Cambridge, Peterborough and Huntingdonshire.

From March 2023 – March 2024, 6,267 instances of shoplifting were recorded in Cambridgeshire.

2,421 were recorded in Cambridge

2,006 were recorded in Peterborough

630 were recorded in Huntingdonshire

544 were recorded in Fenland

329 were recorded in South Cambridgeshire

325 were recorded in East Cambridgeshire

12 were recorded in unaccounted for areas

The worrying numbers have led to Cambridgeshire Police identifying shoplifting as a “key issue” they need to tackle in the county.

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Detective Inspector Juliet Heald, from Cambridgeshire Police, said: “We’re working with retailers concerning shoplifting and seeking prosecutions where possible.

“Since inception in September last year, the Spree Offender Team in the south of the county have arrested and charged 146 people.

“The team have been directly responsible for approximately 906 charges against these suspects, for offences including theft from a shop, non-dwelling burglaries and breaches of Criminal Behaviour Orders.”

DI Heald added: “We recognise the concern any rise in crime may cause, but we continue to do a considerable amount of work with the public to encourage them to report offences that otherwise may not have been.”

In comparison with figures from March 2023, shoplifting has increased in every single district in Cambridgeshire in the space of a year.

4,803 instances of shoplifting in Cambridgeshire were reported in 2023, with Cambridge and Peterborough both having the larges individual figures.

1,429 cases of shoplifting were reported in Cambridge in 2023 while 1,868 were reported in Peterborough – a 69 per cent and 7 per cent rise in both areas respectively in 2024.

In 2023, the area with the third highest shoplifting numbers in the county was Fenland. Yet in 2024, Huntingdonshire overtook the district.

From March 2022 – March 2023, 4,803 instances of shoplifting were recorded in Cambridgeshire.

1,429 were recorded in Cambridge (up 69 per cent in 2024)

323 were recorded in East Cambridgeshire (up one per cent in 2024)

524 were recorded in Fenland (up four per cent in 2024)

454 were recorded in Huntingdonshire (up 39 per cent in 2024)

1,868 were recorded in Peterborough (up seven per cent in 2024)

188 were recorded in South Cambridgeshire (up 75 per cent in 2024)

17 were recorded in unaccounted for areas

A recently released crime survey from the British Retail Consortium found that losses from customer theft in the past year reached £1.8 billion – the highest ever.

It also found that 61 per cent of retailers rate police response as “poor, or very poor”.