Shopkeepers have called for more police patrols in Braintree, claiming the town is being targeted by gangs of shoplifters.

Mike Walkner, chairman of Braintree Town Centre Strategy Group and manager of Woolworths, said there has been a rise in the number of shoplifters in the past few months.

"We've all seen an increase in the number of casual shoplifters, but we also have gangs hitting Braintree town centre now,'' he said.

''This has a lot to do with Braintree doing well. "We also see an increase in shoplifting in the run-up to Christmas." Mr Walkner said that he would like to see a quicker response by the police to these incidents.

"We had one incident recently and the police took 48 hours to respond,'' he claimed.

''We did not dial 999 as we did not think it was an emergency, but we did want to see a police officer. I think there should be more bobbies on the beat in the town."

He added: "We have spoken to the police, who say resources are tight and we can understand this.

''But we don't want to have to keep things behind counters as this isn't appealing to our customers.

''We also don't want to have to increase prices because of shoplifting." Geoff Butler, crime reduction officer at Braintree Police, said: "I think the opportunities for shoplifting arise more in the period before Christmas.

''I don't think we need more officers in the town.

::Incidents are dealt with in order of importance, so as far as I am aware our response time is okay."

''I would say that shopkeepers should be more vigilant and make use of the town link security radio system, so that we can all crack down on theft."

By Clare Berrett

Reporter's e-mail: clare.berrett@essex-chronicle.co.uk

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