Layla 
"They just come in, they just take the stuff, and they just walk out, as if it's their shop."
Balu Baskaran shakes his head, as he describes the brazen behaviour of shoplifters who target his small store in Shortlands in south-east London, and how powerless he feels in trying to stop them.
He says one member of his staff was punched in the face when he tried to stop them stealing some vapes and bottles of wine.
Shoplifting in London rose by 54% last year compared with 2023, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Mr Baskaran says that his shop is targeted two or three times a week.
"People think it's a petty crime, but if you add it up, that makes a big impact."
Although the small shop has a cluster of CCTV cameras, he says the police have not taken action, so he's taken to sharing images of the suspects on social media himself, appealing for anyone with information to report them.
"But most people know who they are, and the police don't seem to be doing anything about it."
When shop staff spot suspected shoplifters, he says they lock the doors and barricade themselves inside.
"But last time we did that, they broke the glass on our door, so there's nothing we can do, to be honest."
Just a few miles away from Mr Baskaran, in the same borough of Bromley, police have been piloting a scheme aimed at tackling prolific shoplifters.
Under Operation Kelleher, officers from the Safer Neighbourhood team in Orpington focused on 13 repeat offenders, asking local shops to keep the CCTV from each incident, so suspects could be charged with a number of offences rather than a single theft.
"You can deal with someone for a £50 shoplift, but when you're dealing with them for 20 shopliftings for £1,000, ultimately the courts see it a little bit differently, and that sentencing changes," explains PC Pete Blunden.
He tells me that before Operation Kelleher, local shops were being "cleaned out" and many offences were not being reported.
I put it to him that perhaps some business owners had simply lost confidence that police would do anything about it.
"I do get that. Because a lot of stores, initially their thought process is, 'What's the point? You're not going to support us, nothing's going to happen, nothing's going to change.'"
PC Blunden says it's been essential to create good relationships and prove police are taking it seriously, while simultaneously getting to know exactly who the prolific offenders are.
"I know them by face and name, and they know me by face and name as well.
"So when I stop and engage with them, even to say hello, it's me telling them, I know they're there, and them saying, 'Pete's around, PC Blunden's around.'"
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that shoplifting rose by 54% across London last year compared with 2023.
Almost 90,000 shoplifting offences were recorded in the capital in 2024, up from roughly 58,000 the previous year.
Shoplifting offences across the rest of England – excluding London – increased by 15% in the last year.
