Shoplifting drop for Harrogate despite regional rise

Harrogate has seen a 12.9 percent drop in shoplifting incidents

Police figures show that Harrogate had the sixth lowest number of reported shoplifting rate out of the 17 Yorkshire areas, with 774 incidents reported over the last year despite a regional rise of more than 8 percent.

The rating is based on the number of incidents as a percentage of the population, giving Doncaster the title for the area with the highest shoplifting levels in the region with Frenchgate Shopping Centre highlighted as a hot spot.

Across Yorkshire the number of shoplifting incidents reached 33,149, North Yorkshire Police received just 4,137 of these according to the study compiled by discount site lovemyvouchers.co.uk.

Linda Firth from LoveMyVouchers.co.uk said, "Shoplifting doesn't just affect the retailers, it also affects consumers as the losses are typically recouped through higher retail prices.

"With such a high portion of the population already struggling to make ends meet, the affect of increasing retail prices to account for the costs of shoplifting could have a significant impact on budgets."

Despite the drop the worst local hot spots are the shopping area between Oxford Street and Cambridge Street, Back Dragon Parade, Rudbeck Crescent; and Knaresborough Road.

Trinity Leeds Shopping Centre, Frenchgate and Kirkgate Shopping Centre in Bradford were also highlighted as Yorkshire wide hot spots for shoplifting.

Shoplifting figures from across England and Wales hit 362,499 during 2016, a rise of 7.6 percent.