More shoplifting crimes were recorded in Cumbria in the past year, new figures show.

It comes as major retailers raised concerns about the rising cost of theft, while the Government has vowed to make assaulting a shopworker a specific criminal offence.

Figures from the Home Office show there were 2,250 shoplifting crimes recorded by Cumbria Constabulary in the year to March – a nine per cent increase from 2,065 the year before.

Across England and Wales, a total of 443,995 offences were logged by forces in the year to March 2024, up 30 per cent on the 342,428 recorded in the previous 12 months.

The figure is the highest since current records began in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics, which described the latest increase as notable.

There was no significant change across many other forms of crime in the year up to March 2024, but the ONS also highlighted a 40 per cent increase in theft from the person, including bag-snatching and phone thefts not involving the threat or use of violence.

The number of robberies recorded in England and Wales rose to 81,019, up eight per cent from 75,012 in the previous 12 months.

Among the robberies, there was a 13 per cent increase in those involving a knife or sharp instrument, with 21,226 recorded by forces in 2023-24.

The national figures exclude Greater Manchester due to an IT issue in processing knife crime data.

In Cumbria, there were 178 robberies recorded, with 37 involving a knife or sharp instrument.

In the recent King's speech, the government unveiled plans to amend the Crime and Policing Bill, adding legislation to address retail crime by creating a new specific offence of assaulting a shopworker and introducing stronger measures to ‘tackle low-level shoplifting’.

The amendments also include reversing the previous £200 theft threshold, which allows anyone stealing goods costing less than £200 to plead guilty by post.

The British Independent Retailers Association said: "For too long, our members have faced increased incidents of theft, greater volumes of stolen products, and rising abuse towards business owners and staff."

Chief inspector Lee Skelton at Cumbria Constabulary said police work all year round with business representatives to prevent shoplifting and catch thieves.

He added that the rise in shoplifting is national, and Cumbria has one of the lowest rates nationwide while having a positive outcome rate of 60 per cent.

“Shoplifting is not a victimless crime.

“It hits businesses, which contribute to the Cumbrian economy and provide jobs.

“One of the best ways we can tackle offences like this is through receiving information from those working in shops and from members of the public who see anything suspicious.

“We would encourage shops to contact police to report all incidents of theft. It is only by receiving reports from the public, that we can identify suspects to hold them to account for their actions.

“The more accurate the information we have for offending in a local area, the more intelligence we have to ensure we resource areas appropriately.

“We’d like to reassure the public that while we have seen this rise, crime overall in Cumbria has decreased by 8.3 per cent and we also saw burglary offences decrease by 3.2 per cent,” he concluded.