EXCLUSIVE:’We’ve had enough now, we want our shops free from these brazen thieves’-Harold Hill community hits back.

Figures reveal Co-op have lost £68K in seven months due to shoplifting.

Residents living in Harold Hill and using the Hilldene shopping centre have had enough of being faced with empty shelves, watching thieves openly steal bag fulls and having their shop staff that most know by name,abused daily.

Shoppers who use the stores on Farnham Road have told the Havering Daily that they ‘have had enough’ . Most have used this shopping centre for many years and love their area, but have sadly had to watch it decline over the years as anti social behaviour is visible and the brazen shoplifting is now a daily occurence.

Yesterday, the Havering Daily visited Farnham Road to chat with community champion Jan Sergeant who has been fighting to stop these issues for years and members of the local community about the impact the thieving is having on residents.

Pam, who uses the Harold Hill shops said: “I was using a chemist in Petersfield when I saw a lady attempting to leave with a huge bag full. I was so shocked to see just how openly she was doing this. I said to her ‘you can’t do that!’ and she just responded by saying, ‘who are you!’ and just walked straight out the door. It’s all wrong.’

A store worker for the Co-op at the Hilldene shopping centre told the Havering Daily: “They have now started to to steal all our papers and magazines before we have even had the chance to put them out on the shelf.

“Yesterday, as the lorry arrived to deliver our papers, they were waiting and took them all before we had the chance to even bring them in the store, that’s how bad it is.”

The ladies at the Co-op are doing a fantastic job, but are being faced with a horrendous situation everyday as these brazen thieves steal more and more.

“There are some new faces stealing, but on a whole its always the same pack that are stealing here and across other shops in the area,” she added.

Jan Sergeant told the Havering Daily: “The police come and arrest them and a few days after they are straight back on the streets doing the same.

“We need a bigger approach to this, there are many things that need to be addressed such as the anti social behaviour problems happening inside communal doorways.”

Figures revealed to the Havering Daily have shown in seven months, the following stores are believed to have lost-

Co-op £68,000

Sainsbury’s £38,000

Superdrug £25,000.

These are shocking figures that could potentially ruin the area, which is the last thing any of the community want.

“We don’t want this to become a no-go area, we want to be able to use our shops freely without watching thieves empty the shelves. We all love our community,” continued Pam.

“There is a new police initiative starting soon that will hopefully address all these issues. The police will be working with the council enforcement team and the housing team together to tackle all aspects of the problems we are faced with here and put a stop to it.

“We all love our community here in Harold Hill and are working together to bring it back as it was,” finished Jan.

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