Harold Hill shop workers and community members begin to take action against brazen shoplifters.

Shop workers and community members are now hitting back against brazen shoplifting that has blighted Hilldene shopping centre for years.

Simon Ford, a local shop owner and Harold Hill resident has joined forces with community champion Jan Sargeant and other local shop workers to tackle the horrendous shoplifting targeting the area and the ongoing issues with anti social behaviour.

Simon is fed up of watching his area decline and seeing shopkeepers abused and attacked on a daily basis and brazen thieves walking out the door with hundreds of pounds worth of goods and has now launched a special group to come together as a community and tackle these issues.

The Havering Daily joined Simon and Jan yesterday, 18 September, at the Hilldene shopping centre to talk with them about the ongoing situation.

The Co-op have faced endless challenges and have had their staff threatened daily and joined us yesterday to talk about this nightmare.

One staff member told the Havering Daily: “We are used to it now. The other day I was stocking up one of the shelves when a woman stood next to me and opened a huge bag and started filling it up. I looked at her and she replied, ‘you can’t stop me’ and she walked out the door.

“This is a daily occurrence for us, we regularly get abused and threatened. We are told that we will get ‘cut up’ or attacked on the way home.

“We all change out of our uniforms when we leave work now as we are scared to get followed. We see the thieves everyday sitting outside the store drinking and begging and looking for the opportunity when there are least people, to just walk in and take what they want.

“No women work here in the evening now as we are all too scared of being attacked. Women work during the day and men work the evening shifts. That’s how it is.

“This stealing is costing us so much money everyday, it really is terrible. I don’t know how long we can go on like this.”

Simon and Jan are working with all the local shopkeepers in Hilldene and trying to tackle this problem the best way they can. Both, as Harold Hill residents are sad to see the way their community has declined.

Simon told the Havering Daily: “Since the lockdowns, we have watched this community decline and now the situation is really bad here as you can see.”

Jan told the Havering Daily: “We know thieves are actively targeting this area and shop lifting to order.The anti social behaviour has been going on for years here. We have to work together as community now and fight this.”

Both Simon and Jan are very active in the Harold Hill area and are on a mission now to help fight this nightmare situation that is blighting their area.

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