Crime gangs are fuelling the shoplifting epidemic by using children as young as FOUR to steal from stores

Children as young as four are being caught shoplifting as organised crime gangs fuel an epidemic of thefts in Britain's stores.

Alarming new figures reveal cases have soared by 30 per cent on last year in some police areas – yet only one in six shoplifting suspects ever faces prosecution.

Shockingly, officers failed to turn up in three quarters of cases when store detectives detained thieves.

Our damning new investigation into the crisis today reveals:

• There are now 46 organised crime groups who are copying 'county lines' drug dealers by deploying youngsters and vulnerable adults to commit crime;
• All 24 police forces who responded to our enquires said they had dealt with child shoplifters – many of whom are under ten, the age of criminal responsibility;
• Experts warned very young children are being used by the criminals to push trolley-fulls of unpaid groceries out of supermarkets because gangs know they are too young to be charged by police.

Last night, retail security experts predicted the 'busiest Christmas ever for shoplifting' and critics said the explosion in High Street crime was 'out of control'.

Retailers said a lack of police action had left criminals 'feeling like they can shoplift with impunity'.

The Mail on Sunday has led the way on exposing Britain's shoplifting scandal with a hard-hitting campaign calling for tougher police action. We revealed how the crisis is costing stores £1 billion a year.

Stephanie Karte, national operations manager for Retailers Against Crime, said there were 46 active organised crime gangs shoplifting in the UK, and that exploiting children was part of their strategy.

'You see it on CCTV,' she said. 'At the very last moment a child will be given a trolley full of shopping to take outside. If there's a challenge, the adult with them shouts 'I told you not to push that trolley through the door'. It's very difficult to prove a crime in that event.'

New crime figures, obtained by the MoS under Freedom of Information rules, show that between January and October this year there were 154,000 shoplifting offences recorded by the forces we surveyed – a jump of 12.5 per cent on last year.

One constabulary, Northumbria, dealt with 12,738 offences – a 35 per cent rise on last year. Another, Derbyshire saw a 30 per cent rise.

However, across the country the number of suspects charged has failed to keep pace. While 23,249 faced charges last year, the ten-month figure to October this year stood at 24,698 – a 6.2 per cent rise.

West Yorkshire Police said they had dealt with a four-year-old shoplifter but gave no details, while forces in Lancashire, Merseyside and South Yorkshire had seen five-year-olds used in thefts.

Graham Wynn, from the British Retail Consortium, said: 'The lack of effective police response has left many criminals feeling like they can shoplift with impunity.'