British traders are on call

Shoplifters will steal more than £431 million worth of goods during the build-up to Christmas in England.

On the busiest shopping day of the year, on Saturday, December 22, retailers will lose almost £50,000 of stock every minute, totalling £26.4 million for the day. The most popular items stolen are perfumes, alcohol, women's wear and cosmetics.

Among the shoplifters who are arrested, the value of items is normally £77.95 but at Christmas this value rises to £85.71. The research, by Checkpoint Systems, found that the number of incidents at Christmas rises by 206 per cent and the value stolen by 236 per cent compared with the rest of the year.