'Shoplifting epidemic puts my livelihood at stake'

While shoplifting cases have seen a dip of 5% across England, in Cleveland Police's force area they are going up. A shopkeeper in Stockton-on-Tees shares how his business is coping.

It is a fairly normal weekday morning at Addison Newsagents on Church Road in Stockton-on-Tees.

Regular customers are dropping in to pick up newspapers and drop off parcels and checking in on each other, asking about plans for the day.

Despite the community feel, this shop faces its problems.

"Once or twice a year we're throwing people out, your average stock disappearing - that happens quite a lot", says owner Stephen Tate.

Some shelves have reduced stock supplies, a deliberate bid to stop items being stolen.

"This is what it's come to, we've had to put a sign up, we sell multiple packs but we only put one out on show."

Higher value items, such as tea and coffee, have also been moved closer to the till and away from the door.

Nationally shoplifting reports fell by 5%, but figures obtained by the BBC found Cleveland Police, which covers Stockton, had the biggest increase in shoplifting offences between 2025-26, with a rise of 14.9% from 8,326 to 9,568.

The Teesside force has the second highest rate of offences per 1,000 people, with 15.9 - only behind City of London.

Stephen and his partner Julie have run the business for 38 years.

At 64, he is now looking to retire.

Shoplifting is an "epidemic" and "out of control across the board on the High Street", he says, but he feels very safe in the shop.

"We've been here 38 years and we've had no serious incidents. Nobody's threatened us with anything, just been a bit verbal, they push you about a bit and grab you by the collar, a bit of rough and tumble."

He recalls an occasion where he caught someone with six jars of coffee down their trousers and his partner grabbed the individual before "hysterically" calling the police.

Stephen says over the years the business has developed "a bad habit of fighting back", which he says "we have been told we shouldn't".

"But when it's your livelihood at stake, I'm not going to let you walk out of here with half a dozen chocolate bars if I can stop you, and if that means throwing you out of the shop, well, I'll do that," he says.

Cleveland Police says individual retailers retain responsibility for their own policies and procedures but if a staff member suspects or sees a crime happening they should call 999.

After an incident, information should be passed to the police by calling 101 or using online reporting systems.

Stephen says there is no insurance a business can claim from for loss caused by shoplifting and a wide range of shopkeepers suffer.

"We all pay for it by increased prices, and that's how you get your money back, by putting 5p on something or a couple of pence on something else," he says.

Cleveland Police's lead for retail crime, Ch Insp Jamie Bell says courts can impose Criminal Behaviour Orders on offenders which can ban them from entering locations and breaching these orders can result in a custodial sentence.

"We are also able to charge individuals without interview where there is overwhelming evidence."

The Home Office says retail crime had been dismissed as low-level offending "for too long" and charges were up nationally by 19%.

A government spokesperson said: "We are giving police the powers they need to crack down on shop theft, including scrapping the £200 rule, which has let too many offenders off the hook.

"We have also pledged to deliver 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers, with more than 3,800 already in roles, marking a 22% increase in just 12 months.

"Shop theft is down 4% on last year and charges are up 19%. The most persistent neighbourhood offenders can be closely managed through coordinated action by probation services, police and local partner agencies."

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