Image source, Get#

By June Kelly & Dearbail Jordan

BBC News

Shoplifting will be targeted like organised crime as part of a plan to help police to crack down on theft.

A team of specialist analysts and officers is being put together to gather intelligence on crime gangs behind much of the shoplifting across England and Wales.

Retailers have complained police are failing to tackle rising shoplifting.

Under the plan, police have committed to attend more crime scenes and use facial recognition to target offenders.

A group of 13 retailers, including John Lewis, Tesco and the Co-op, have agreed to stump up almost £800,000 over two years to fund a partnership, known as Project Pegasus.

The majority of the money will finance a specialist police team that will work within OPAL, the national policing division that oversees intelligence on serious organised acquisitive crime.

The Home Office said the team was being put together to "build a comprehensive intelligence picture of the organised crime gangs that fuel many shoplifting incidents across the country, to help target and dismantle them".

Shoplifter: Police need to stop people like me