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09
Oct
Harrogate Tesco forced to lock doors to avoid thefts
On a drizzly Tuesday morning, a woman with a shopping bag buzzed the door to our offices.
No one was expecting an interviewee.
A woman came into the newsroom and told us how she’d just been to Tesco, but the door had been locked. On turning to leave, a member of staff appeared at the door and told her, ‘You can come in, we’ve just locked it because we’ve had some people who keep coming in a stealing things’.
Outraged at what she had encountered, she came to us to see what was being done, why the police weren't dealing with these people.
There were a number of other opinions the reader expressed, but we won’t repeat them – we don’t want to be done for defamation.
However, a reporter popped round the corner to the Tesco Express on Cambridge Road, in Harrogate, to see what was going on.
The staff were indeed using an in-store camera to assess and then individually let in customers by the door, but the manager didn’t want to speak to a journalist – she didn’t want to get in trouble with her boss.
Officers on the beat.
We contacted North Yorkshire Police, Tesco and the Harrogate BID’s business crime officer to find out what was being done to deal with this all too familiar issue.
After a lot of back and forth with the police, we were eventually directed to a Facebook video from April about its Retail Crime Symposium, and told we could quote it.
Chief Insp Ryan Chapman, retail crime lead for North Yorkshire Police, said:
Our positive outcome rate is approximately 62%. Two of the biggest changes [we have made over the past year] is bringing dedicated retail crime officers across the three commands in North Yorkshire Police. They’re solely looking at retail offending and taking a problem-solving approach and working in early intervention.
The other is change is changing our attendance policy. So when a retailer names a suspect, or a vehicle registration mark is recorded, you’ll get 100% attendance from police in those events.
The video also promoted the new Open 2 Recovery Team, a “scheme that looks at breaking the cycle of the most prolific offenders, because it’s a small cohort of offenders that commit the most crimes, and break the cycle and makes sure that there are options for them to get onto a recovery program and progress out of reoffending.”
Tesco didn’t provide a statement, but highlighted that there are a range of security measures in place, including a remote-control door access system that was implemented in 2024. This is used at each store’s discretion.
A spokesperson for Harrogate BID said:
We have spoken with the manager at Tesco Cambridge Road, who confirmed that the door access system was introduced during covid and is still used at certain times to help keep staff and customers safe.
It is primarily used when staffing levels are lower and at times when Tesco’s own data indicate that incidents of shoplifting are more likely to occur. This tends to be during the very early morning or later in the evening, but the store remains open to customers.
Tesco is part of our Shop Safe Alert scheme, which allows businesses to share information about shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. Retail crime is an issue for Harrogate, as it is for many towns across the country. We’re working with businesses and other town centre partners to develop the Business Crime Reduction Partnership further, so we can tackle these problems together and find practical ways to support those affected.
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