MORE than thirty business owners from Bexhill attended a meeting this evening (6 November), with some telling the panel they’ve considered ‘shutting up shop’, due to the crime.
The meeting held at the De La Warr Pavilion was organised by The Bexhill Chamber of Commerce alongside MP Kieran Mullan and local councillors for the town.
Attendees heard from Sussex Police’s Chief Inspector for Hastings and Rother, Simon Yates, who said tackling shoplifting in Bexhill is a real challenge, which they are taking seriously. An increased Police presence in the town was promised, whilst he said he really feels for local shops and will do everything possible to crack down on the crime.
The panel, which consisted of Simon Yates, Paul Plim from Bexhill Trade Union Council, MP Kieran Mullan, Councillor Christine Bayliss, Tracey Love from Bexhill Chamber and Councillor Gareth Delany, invited shopkeepers to share their recent stories and experiences.
One businessman told the panel: “Shoplifting at the moment is a real threat to local shopkeepers. The lack of Police in town is concerning and is leaving an open door for thieves.”
Another said: “Just this evening, before I came to this meeting, two men in hoodies and balaclavas came into my shop. One was on lookout and the other was acting suspiciously, so I confronted them and they fled. It’s absolutely terrifying. It’s not just shoplifting, it’s theft and it has a huge effect on our mental health. We’ve even questioned why we would continue to invest in our shop.”
The panel encouraged the businesses to use DISC, an online platform used by the Rother Business Crime Partnership, to report crime and find out who the local offenders are.
Some said a WhatsApp group called ShopWatch is a great resource of information as it’s instant and the 110 members in the group all send messages when crime is taking place.
Mr Yates told the meeting that the Police is starting to increase the use of Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBO), which put conditions on offenders and can include banning them from certain areas, to rehabilitation services. He also emphasised that the tagging of convicted shoplifters is a huge benefit and will hopefully see a reduction in offences.
Tracey Love from Bexhill Chamber said: “I really want to talk to as many local shop owners as possible to encourage them to make use of the DISC system, but I’m going to tackle this issue with as many councillors as possible as well as the Sussex Police Crime and Commissioner. We are talking to the large supermarket chains on a corporate level, which has policies and restrictions on sharing CCTV of shoplifters, to see if we can overcome this, which can only benefit the town.”
Concluding the meeting, Mr Mullan said: “I really want to encourage businesses to continue to work together whilst we move forward in tackling this issue. I will continue to work with the Police and Ministers to bring the people responsible to justice.”
