POLICE in Briercliffe are planning to team up with local traders in order to give shoplifters the boot.

They are currently canvassing opinion among traders about a proposed "Shop Watch" scheme designed to help combat shoplifting and anti-social behaviour and other crime on retail premises.

If the scheme gets the green light, Shop Watch members including retailers and other businesses like takeaways, would each be given posters and stickers to display in their shops and details of suspected offenders for shop workers to look out for.

PC Ian Thompson, community beat manager for Briercliffe, said: "Historically, the shops in Briercliffe have been quite fortunate in that they haven't experienced many problems in terms of theft or other crime on their premises.

"However, recently there have been one or two thefts as well as some general nuisance. For example, both the Spar and Matthew's convenience store have experienced thefts of alcohol, possibly by the same offender.

"A lot of work is already being done by myself and PCSO Dave Johnson to tackle the problem but this latest proposal would enable us to build on that good work and strengthen our partnerships with the retailers.

"It would provide all shops in Briercliffe with an early warning in the case of shoplifters or other problems, for example - alcohol proxy purchasers or juvenile nuisance, and enable people who steal or cause problems from one shop in Briercliffe to be excluded from all shops in the Briercliffe Shop Watch scheme.

"We're currently in the process of writing out to shops to tell them about the proposed scheme and if they are supportive of our efforts, then we'll get the initiative up and running as soon as we can."