Charity shop is latest target of out-of-town shoplifters

Thieves are targeting shops in Westbury as they see rural town centres as ‘easy pickings.’

What they don’t realise is that CCTV is often capturing their every movement.

Around midday on 27th January, a North Face jacket was taken from a charity shop in Westbury. Mark Chalmers, who runs the town’s CCTV hub, has helped to track the suspect’s movements.

“It’s disappointing but it doesn’t surprise me,” Mark said. “You get professional shoplifting gangs who think towns like Westbury are easy pickings. People will come to places like here or Warminster to steal, it’s people who have come out of town rather than locals.

“Shoplifting in charity shops does happen. I think people forget that charity shops are like a normal shop, they’ve still got to pay staff and electricity bills. But people go in and think they can just take things and not hurt anyone. They’ll sometimes look for branded items with resale value. With this most recent charity shop theft I think it was a North Face jacket the man took.”

Westbury’s surveillance network, upgraded in 2023, is based in Warminster and monitors Westbury, Warminster, and the West Wiltshire Trading Estate, with 14 cameras covering Westbury alone. These cameras use advanced four-lensed, 360-degree technology, capturing a wide area and displaying 56 images.

Mark’s cameras capture various crimes, from thefts to fly tipping. He’s reported several incidents where people leave bin bags of rubbish outside charity shop doors under the guise that they are donations. Mark has encouraged locals and business owners to report any crimes he can help investigate.

A couple months ago, a man was tracked by the town’s CCTV after he stole £400 of alcohol from Morrisons. The thief was stopped near Westbury train station and apprehended by police.

Lyndsey Smith, of the Warminster Neighbourhood Policing Team, said that CCTV network is a huge asset to her team. She added, “This does highlight the importance of CCTV being available in Westbury and how can assist our investigations.”

Mark added, “We’ve got a camera mounted by the rotunda that looks directly down the High Street. We’ve got a camera that is in the high street car park behind the shops which covers the back of the shops, the car park and the public toilets. We’re pretty well covered in that area of Westbury.”

The Warminster and Westbury CCTV Partnership is overseen by a working group of representatives from Warminster Town Council, Westbury Town Council, Wiltshire Council, the Army, Wiltshire Police, West Wilts Trading Estate and local businesses.

Pictured: Mark Chalmers at the town’s CCTV hub