Boots forced to take drastic action to stop everyday medicines such as Nytol being stolen by ‘selfish thieves'
Packs of £6.60 sleep aid Nytol and £9.95 boxes of hay fever tablets Piriton have been swapped out for dummies at one store.
Signs tell customers to exchange them for the real thing after paying in Croydon, South London.
Last night outraged shopper, mum of two Fran Griffin, 45, told us: '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.'
It comes just days after Boots announced plans to tackle serial shoplifters.
The pharmacy chain was previously forced to take baby milk off shelves — and pricey fungal nail treatments.
The high street chemist stashed the £25.99 Nailner kits behind counters, leaving empty boxes on the the shop floor.
While last year reports stated the chain had stuck anti-theft gadgets on fake eyelashes worth as little as £1 and taken baby milk off shelves in some crime hit stores.
In January, the British Retail Consortium reported the total cost of customer theft had soared to £2.2 billion in 2023/24.
There were over 20 million incidents of theft last year compared to 16 million the previous year.
Moment Co-op worker grabs fleeing shoplifter by the THROAT to stop him making off with arms full of stolen items
Graham Wynn, of the BRC, told us: 'Shoplifting is not a victimless crime; it feeds through into higher prices for honest shoppers at the till."
The firm was contacted for comment.
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