Every town centre has to deal with the problem of shoplifting and Croydon is leading the way when it comes to tackling theft.

In July 1999, shop traders joined forces with Croydon Council and the town

centre police to ensure Croydon developed a co-ordinated approach to deterring shoplifters.

The innovative Croydon Against Shop Theft (CAST) scheme relies on good clear information being shared.

Information on shop-lifters is passed on by retailers, added to by police intelligence, and stored in a database by the CAST scheme manager.

Target files are drawn up on known thieves, including a photograph, description and method of crime, before being passed on to all CAST members, who try to spot known criminals.

The CAST office is then contacted and the thief can be tracked using closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. CAST operates in conjunction with other Croydon-based schemes including the CCTV network and Croydon Radio Against Crime (CRAC).

CRAC is a radio based scheme working in conjunction with CAST and gives 100 town centre shops a line of communication to other businesses, the police and CCTV control centre, through hand-held radio sets.

Like CAST, CRAC becomes extremely effective when used in conjunction with the CCTV network of over 500 cameras run from two Taberner House control centres.

Norman Whaley, the council's systems officer and creator of CRAC, said: "It's main use is the passage of information for the good of the users, for example in relation to lost children. But one system compliments another. If alerted on the radios, we can pick up people on the cameras and alert the police."

Town centre operations manager Tony Hart said: "It's one of the biggest systems in the country and by helping to drive known offenders elsewhere, it will make the town centre a safer place to trade and visit."

The CAST scheme would like to attract more members and anyone interested should call 020 8681 5819.

Factfile:

There are now 27 members of CAST within Croydon Town Centre. There are also 100 CRAC radios throughout the town linking both retail and leisure sites.