Desperate Asda bosses forced to take drastic step to stop hard-up shoplifters nicking CONDOMS
SHOPS are slapping anti-theft stickers on condoms after frisky blokes kept swiping them from shelves – because they’re too hard up to pay.
Dreaded yellow alarm patches have been added to packs of the latex bonking essential, used by lovers to swerve unwanted pregnancies, at several Asda branches across the country.
The alarms work by triggering a tiny sensor on the underside of the sticker if an item is removed from the store without being scanned through a till.
One patch on a 12-pack of Durex “thin feel” from Asda even warns: “Security protected, remove before microwaving”.
It comes as the price of a pack of rubbers soared by nearly 40 per cent in the last year.
Meanwhile, shoplifting rates have also soared to a record 1,300 incidents a day, meaning store shrinkage is also at an all-time high.
One store worker in Lewisham, South East London, told The Sun: “These measures are now necessary because of how much shoplifting is going on.
“Part of it is the prices have gone up by a lot.
“All birth control has got far more expensive and that makes it more of a target for shoplifters.
“We have even had some people open packs up and just take one or two, then put the box back as if nothing happened.
“Condoms are still a whole lot cheaper than the alternative, whether that’s being fined for shoplifting or ending up with a baby.”
And Graham Wynn, of the British Retail Consortium, added: “Shoplifting poses a huge issue to businesses and communities across the country, and inadequate police action has given criminals free rein to steal goods.
“Our latest crime survey showed losses to theft doubled in the last year to £1.8bn, and retailers had to spend a further £1.2bn on anti-crime measures.
Not only has the number of thefts increased, but thieves are becoming bolder, more aggressive, and more frequently armed with weapons.
“We call on the police to get tough on retail crime and ensure tackling this issue is a high priority in local policing plans.”
Last month a serial shoplifter’s crime spree was ended prematurely when he was jailed for pinching £1,000 of rubbers.
Alistair Lees, 35, got 48 weeks in prison for ransacking the contraceptive shelf of a Boots in Bournemouth, Dorset, seven separate times.
Asda was asked to comment.