TESCO shoppers have been left fuming over a shocking new security change in a busy store.
Supermarkets have traditionally tagged food and drink items to deter theft with shoplifting on the rise.
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The British Retail Consortium said thefts have cost retailers around £1.8billion in 2022-23, up from £953million the previous year.
But a Tesco in Theydon Bois, Essex, has now taken the unprecedented step of tagging their shopping baskets.
One shopper in the Essex village, James Beach, 45, said: “I couldn’t believe it when I saw they had stuck tags on shopping baskets.
“I mean, what are you going to do with one of them? Is there nothing these people won’t nick?”
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He added: “I spoke to one of the staff and she said they’d had loads of thefts so they were tagging the baskets now to try and deter people.”
A Tesco spokesperson told the The Sun that the security tags were in place to prevent shoppers forgetting to return them before leaving the store.
Tesco said it was not a universal policy and the decision to introduce the measure was down to the local store’s team.
It comes as the Tesco Bristol branch began monitoring customers on CCTV before allowing them entry.
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Customers shopping at the Bristol branch are now made to wait outside the supermarket store while staff check the security cameras, then once vetted and deemed not a threat they are allowed to enter.
The policy was introduced between the hours of 6am and 9am and in the evening when security staff were not present at the store
But the latest move has been described as a “nightclub-style door policy”.
The Bristol branch has also moved their shopping baskets away from the doors to stop thieves piling them up with shopping and running out.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our neighbourhood team is working closely with businesses to provide security advice and encourage reporting to identify those responsible for these crimes.
“There has been a nationwide increase in reported shoplifting offences, and that is reflected across Avon and Somerset.
“We’re encouraged by a recent increase in reporting, as we know the previously shop theft has been significantly under-reported.
“While we have to prioritise all calls based on the level of threat, harm and risk, any incident in which there has been violence or a suspect remains on the scene will be prioritised.
“We’re working to make it easier to report online and upload CCTV and the statements necessary to support our investigations in a timely way, and a new team within our Incident Assessment Unit is now focused on prolific offenders.”
Tesco, which operates over 2,800 stores across the United Kingdom, recently opted to change to a netting system as opposed to the traditional tag system.
However, staff have taken to social media to bemoan the new “mind-numbing” system claiming that it takes around two hours to make sure everything is correctly positioned.
An image shows an aisle filled with a variety of vodka products on the shelf including Smirnoff, Glen’s, AU and Absolut.
Several top shelf items can be seen nestling in a netted steel cage and having the traditional tag attached to the bottle’s neck with many of the items costing over £15.
Frustrated workers shared their views on social media site Reddit last week, writing: “These new tags are a joke; they’ve got four of us in BWS and it’s taking around two hours per mod.
“Absolutely mind numbing.”
The post received hundreds of shares and comments from social media users who were quick to share their views on the issue.
Another added: “We got those and now have to tag any wine over £10.”
A third said: “In my store, it’s really inconsistent, we’ve got tags on Tesco own vodka but not Absolut, and Pernod isn’t tagged but something half the price next to it is.”
The shocking changes have occurred as the Office for National Statistics revealed that there were 402,482 shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales for the first time ever.
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
Tesco however also reported that its pre-tax profits had more than doubled to £2.29billion in the 12 months to 29 February this year, up from £882million last year.
It’s not the first time shops have slapped tags on everyday essentials such as butter amid soaring thefts during the cost of living crisis.
Shoppers were previously stunned after Tesco slapped security tags on loo roll with shoplifting spiralling out of control.
The ludicrous tags were seen on rolls in a Tesco Express store in south London where the shoplifting rate is one of the worst in the country.
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Meanwhile, Aldi put security protection stickers on £1.20 multi-packs of chocolate after a spate of thefts.
The yellow patches, often seen on luxury items like whisky or perfume, are found on bags of Cadbury Twirl Bars.
