Police in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight has seen positive results from their change in approach to shoplifting.

Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones and Chief Constable Scott Chilton announced a 83.3 per cent increase in results for victims of retail crime.

The police were left with no choice but to tackle rising figures of shoplifting crimes, which were targeting and damaging local businesses, which were losing money due to the repetitive incidents.

Ms Jones said that police had not made enough effort to crack down on retail crime over the years.

“Shoplifting across all communities has been increasing for several years. In the past, this crime has not been given the attention or priority it deserves," she said.

The commissioner added: “The public have rightly been concerned about the lack of action and the blatant attitude of prolific offenders and organised crime gangs stealing, often without attempting to conceal their theft, daily.

“Coupled with this, the threats and physical assaults to retail staff which have been increasing, must stop. The public have spoken, and I have listened.”

In Southampton, a city centre unit was set up with retail crime as one of their top priorities.

One of the force's most successful new ways of dealing with shoplifting was an operation set up, called Op Stopall.

Op Stopall sees police work with businesses to gather evidence on the repeat offenders that regularly target them.

The operation allows officers to gather more evidence surrounding the offenders, which then builds a stronger case for the courts, resulting in many of them pleading guilty in court the first time.

The tactic also takes some pressure off the courts as they will eventually have fewer hearings if the regular offenders are being sentenced the first time around.

Op Stopall has proven to be very successful; so far through the operation, 248 offences have been reported, 10 offenders have been charged with 176 offences and there are currently five individuals under investigation for another 72 offences.

Working with facial recognition technology to act against suspects caught on camera has also proven to be a fruitful method utilised by the police force.