Prolific thieves have targeted London's lawless West End as shoplifters have been caught stealing thousands of pounds worth of goods, including designer clothes, iPhones and board games.
Over the past week in the West End, a board game thief was caught 10 minutes after stealing as part of a £1,300 crime spree, while a masked gang was cuffed moments after stealing £100,000 of Apple products from a phone shop.
And a rampant thief who stole £9,000 from stores in Covent Garden throughout February and March was caught by bobbies on the beat last month.
The shoplifting crisis has seemed to reach boiling point in the West End as the Metropolitan Police has been forced to take action in a bid to contain the shameless thefts.
In an attempted crackdown, the number of officers policing the district will increase by more than 50 per cent following a spate of brazen thefts.
