Greggs moves food and drink behind anti-theft counters in shoplifting crackdown
Food and drinks have been moved behind anti-theft counters at a number of Greggs stores in a bid to curb out-of-control shoplifting.
Self-service displays have been canceled and shelves cleared in a major refurbishment at the bakery chain in West Croydon, south London, according to reports.
Staff now serve food and drinks to customers from behind theft-proof counters in the area to prevent thieves from helping items onto the shelves.
Outlets in the capital’s Peckham, Whitechapel and Upton Park, as well as stores in Birmingham and Wilford in Nottinghamshire, are said to be testing the same approach.
It comes as shoplifting is set to hit a 20-year high by March 2025, with retailers warning thefts are out of control.
Updated figures from the Office for National Statistics, released last week, show rates could stabilize following a 1 per cent annual fall in burglary, with 509,566 crimes recorded in the year ending December 2025.
Greggs said anti-theft measures were being trialled in many stores tackling anti-social behaviour.
In a statement SunThe company added: “This is one of a number of initiatives we are trialling in a very small number of stores that experience higher levels of anti-social behaviour.
“Customers can expect to see all our great value and delicious Greggs favorites served from behind the counter.”
Last month, Adam Gosling, 39, was spared prison after admitting stealing 38 times from a branch of a bakery chain in Greenford, west London, between December 30, 2025 and February 10.
The thefts ranged in value from £12.30 to £100 per visit and targeted the store multiple times on some days.
Gosling’s six-week theft spree amounted to £1,817.50, prosecutors told Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court.
Footage released by the Metropolitan Police shows Gosling brazenly grabbing a drink from a store fridge. In one clip, wearing a hood over his hat, he fills his carry-on bag with multiple bottles of Lucozade while a staff member mans a nearby refrigerator.
Magistrates chair Judy Gregg sentenced Gosling, who the court heard was homeless, to four months in prison and a one-year suspension.
Responding to the latest figures from the ONS, Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jone admitted shoplifting rates were “unacceptably high”.
“But these figures show that our swift and decisive action has turned the tide: shoplifting is down on last year,” he added.
“We are abolishing the so-called £200 ‘license to steal’. The number of shoplifters facing justice continues to rise under this government, with 17 per cent more charges in just one year.”
