Latest news with #AssociationofConvenienceStores
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Major change to ID rules on cigarettes & vapes sparks fears hundreds of shops across UK will be forced to close
The retailers have written to Business Secretary demanding more support for independent stores UP IN SMOKE Major change to ID rules on cigarettes & vapes sparks fears hundreds of shops across UK will be forced to close HUNDREDS of retailers fear they could go out of business over enforcing age bans on smoking and vape sales. Campaigning shopkeeper Paul Cheema says new laws could be the "final straw" as they deal with aggressive customers when asked for identification. Advertisement 5 Disposable vaping devices are seen for sale in a shop on May 30, 2023 in Manchester, England Credit: Getty 5 Campaigning shopkeeper Paul Cheema Credit: ACS / Association of Convenience Stores 5 Boy holding vapes Credit: Getty The move comes after the hard-pressed firms are already dealing with a hike in rising business rates and feel shoplifting in their stores is going unpunished. He has joined forces with 700 fellow shopkeepers amid fears asking for ID could lead to more violence in the shops. On-the-spot fines of £200 will be handed out by trading standards inspectors for selling tobacco, vape and nicotine products to underage customers. Anyone born after January 1, 2009 will not be able to buy tobacco as Ministers aim for the first smoke-free generation. Advertisement read more in uk news SNATCH FEARS Chilling moment creep tries to drag teen girl away in kidnap bid at station The retailers have written to Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds demanding more support for independent stores. Mr Cheema said: "The proposed laws will do nothing to stop the illicit trade, but will put us in the firing line when enforcement falls on shop staff. It'll be the final straw. "We all want to protect young people from smoking. "But badly thought-through laws won't do that – they'll just drive more sales underground, where nobody checks ID. Advertisement "We're not asking for handouts. We're asking to be heard. The government is piling pressure on our sector from every direction:" "I've seen the government move mountains to protect 2,700 jobs in the steel industry – and rightly so. Police raid largest spice vapes operation after kids were left hospitalised "But there are 445,000 jobs in UK convenience stores, and we're being ignored." "Local shops like mine are part of the fabric of British life. We're open early, open late, and we're there for people when no one else is. Advertisement "But there comes a point where enough is enough." There are also fears that adults will go to illicit stores to buy tobacco which will reduce the income for smaller stores. Tobacco sales account for 15 per cent of the sales with six million people who see smoking as a way of life. A government spokesperson said: "Small businesses are the lifeblood of our high streets, and our Plan for Change will help ensure they thrive. Advertisement "We're taking tough action on shoplifters, and worked with retailers to help them get ready for the ban on single use vapes.' 5 Recycling electronic cigarettes. Vapor sticks, e-cigarettes on light background. Credit: Getty
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Major change to ID rules on cigarettes & vapes sparks fears hundreds of shops across UK will be forced to close
HUNDREDS of retailers fear they could go out of business over enforcing age bans on smoking and vape sales. Campaigning shopkeeper Paul Cheema says new laws could be the "final straw" as they deal with aggressive customers when asked for identification. Advertisement 5 Disposable vaping devices are seen for sale in a shop on May 30, 2023 in Manchester, England Credit: Getty 5 Campaigning shopkeeper Paul Cheema Credit: ACS / Association of Convenience Stores 5 Boy holding vapes Credit: Getty The move comes after the hard-pressed firms are already dealing with a hike in rising business rates and feel shoplifting in their stores is going unpunished. He has joined forces with 700 fellow shopkeepers amid fears asking for ID could lead to more violence in the shops. On-the-spot fines of £200 will be handed out by trading standards inspectors for selling tobacco, vape and nicotine products to underage customers. Anyone born after January 1, 2009 will not be able to buy tobacco as Ministers aim for the first smoke-free generation. Advertisement read more in uk news The retailers have written to Business Secretary Mr Cheema said: "The proposed laws will do nothing to stop the illicit trade, but will put us in the firing line when enforcement falls on shop staff. It'll be the final straw. "We all want to protect young people from smoking. "But badly thought-through laws won't do that – they'll just drive more sales underground, where nobody checks ID. Advertisement Most read in The Sun Latest "We're not asking for handouts. We're asking to be heard. The government is piling pressure on our sector from every direction:" "I've seen the government move mountains to protect 2,700 jobs in the steel industry – and rightly so. Police raid largest spice vapes operation after kids were left hospitalised "But there are 445,000 jobs in UK convenience stores, and we're being ignored." "Local shops like mine are part of the fabric of British life. We're open early, open late, and we're there for people when no one else is. Advertisement "But there comes a point where enough is enough." There are also fears that adults will go to illicit stores to buy tobacco which will reduce the income for smaller stores. Tobacco sales account for 15 per cent of the sales with six million people who see smoking as a way of life. A government spokesperson said: "Small businesses are the lifeblood of our high streets, and our Plan for Change will help ensure they thrive. Advertisement "We're taking tough action on shoplifters, and worked with retailers to help them get ready for the ban on single use vapes.' 5 Recycling electronic cigarettes. Vapor sticks, e-cigarettes on light background. Credit: Getty 5 A woman poses for a photograph holding a single-use vape Credit: Getty
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Britain's shoplifting epidemic laid bare: Shocking figures show half-a-million offences recorded for the first time since police records began
The number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales has passed half a million for the first time, figures show. An astonishing 516,971 offences were logged by forces last year, up 20 per cent from 429,873 in 2023. The figure is the highest since current police records began 22 year ago in 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Shoplifting offences have been at record levels for the past two years and have seen a 'sharp rise' since the Covid-19 pandemic, the ONS said. The real figures are likely to be far higher given many shopkeepers feel it is pointless to report offences to police, retail leaders said. Association of Convenience Stores chief executive, James Lowman, said: 'The increase in shop theft shown by these figures reflects what our members are seeing every day in their stores. 'The volume of theft is still massively under-reported though: our own member survey revealed 6.2million thefts recorded by convenience stores alone. 'It is encouraging that more theft is being reported, even if it is still only the tip of the iceberg. Unless theft is reported, we cannot identify the repeat offenders who are responsible for so much of this crime.' Meanwhile 152,416 theft from the person offences were recorded last year, up 22 per cent from 125,379 in 2023 and the highest number since current data began in 2003. A total of 1.80 million theft offences were recorded, up 1 per cent on 2023. The increase was driven by the rise in shoplifting and theft from the person, the ONS said. Responding to the data, policing minister Dame Diana Johnson pledged to turn the tide on soaring shoplifting rates by adding more neighbourhood police officers. She said: 'This Labour Government will not tolerate the criminality blighting our communities. 'That's why we're putting almost 3,000 more bobbies on the beat in neighbourhood roles this year, and under our leadership, these crimes will receive the attention they deserve. 'We are already starting to reverse the Tories' decade of decline on charge rates.' She added: 'Today's figures are yet more evidence of the damage done by destroying neighbourhood policing as the Tories did over 14 years.' Of the 494,086 police-recorded shoplifting offences in England and Wales in 2024 that have so far been assigned an outcome, 19 per cent (93,156) resulted in a charge or summons, up from 17 per cent in 2023, while 57% (281,107) of investigations were completed with no suspect identified, unchanged on the previous year, PA news agency analysis of Home Office figures shows. Elsewhere in the ONS data, 54,587 knife crime offences were recorded by police in England and Wales in 2024, up 2 per cent from 53,413 in 2023 but 1 per cent below the pre-pandemic figure of 55,170 in the year to March 2020. The number of offences involving possession of an article with a blade or point was 28,150, up 1 per cent from 27,892 and higher than the pre-pandemic figure of 23,264 in 2019/20. There were 216 knife-enabled homicides, down 16 per cent from 258 in 2023. Billy Gazard of the ONS said: 'While police-recorded offences involving knives and sharp instruments have increased, there has been a marked decrease in firearms offences. 'However, shoplifting offences continue to rise, reaching half a million offences in the year ending December 2024, the highest on record.' The data showed the number of homicides recorded by police in England and Wales fell to its lowest level in a decade. Some 535 offences were recorded in 2024, down 5 per cent from 563 in 2023 and the lowest figure since 533 in the 12 months to March 2014. Overall, police recorded 6.64 million crimes in England and Wales in 2024, down by 1 per cent from 6.68 million in 2023. The total is up from 4.03 million a decade earlier in 2013/14, but this is likely to reflect 'changes in police activity and recording practices' as well as genuine changes in trends in crimes reported to and recorded by forces, and 'should not be used to say that overall crime has increased', the ONS said. Figures from the separate ONS crime survey for England and Wales suggest people aged 16 and over experienced 9.61 million incidents of crime in 2024, up from 8.40 million in 2023. The rise is mainly due to a 33 per cent increase in fraud, which accounted for 4.10 million incidents in the survey, and a 13 per cent increase in theft, to 2.93 million. The overall total of 9.61 million is lower than the 11.22 million for 2016/17, when fraud and computer misuse were first included in the figures. Mr Gazard added: 'The increase in crime recorded by the survey in the recent period has been driven by fraud and theft. 'Notably there has been a significant increase in theft from the person, with mobile phones the most common item stolen.' Experiences of crimes, as measured by the ONS survey, have been on a broad downwards trend since the mid-1990s. The survey covers a range of personal and household victim-based crime, including theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse and violence with or without injury, but does not include sexual offences, stalking, harassment and domestic abuse, which are presented separately.
