Boots forced to make huge change for customers in stores
The high-street pharmacy giant and chemist has been forced to stash everyday medicines behind its tills after a wave of shoplifting swept through stores.
Tried Nytol to help me sleep....
Woke an hour earlier than usual...
Fail... — bad and mad OBE (@Returnofthemad) June 19, 2025
One mum told the Sun newspaper: 'This is a disgrace. People rely on getting hold of these medicines when in need. If shoplifters have stolen all the supplies the shelves will be soon be left empty.
'And that is surely what was happening. How sad Boots has to take such drastic action because of a bunch of selfish thieves.'
Nytol and £9.95 boxes of hay fever tablets Piriton swapped out for dummies
Signs tell customers to exchange them for the real thing after paying.
It comes as retail crime is "out of control" and shoplifters are carrying out increasingly brazen and violent acts of theft because they do not fear any consequences, an industry body has said.
The figures were published on Thursday in the annual crime survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents more than 200 major retailers.
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Andrew Goodacre, CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association, said he was "not surprised" by the figures.
"The harsh reality of this is this is only the tip of the iceberg. We've been encouraging our members to report the incidents but a lot of them just don't bother reporting because historically they've had no response.
"So there's still a huge gap between the crimes being committed and the report to the police."
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