Crime has doubled in Southwold partly because of a shoplifting spree police have revealed.

Between the end of February and the end of March there were 13 crimes reported in the town.

In 2010 over the same period there were only seven crimes, in between the end of February and the end of March 2009 there were eight with only six in the corresponding period in 2008.

On Tuesday night PC Chris Sadler revealed the sharp rise in crime to a monthly meeting of Southwold Town Council.

PC Sadler said that in the last year shoplifting had shot up by 50pc with two crimes being reported in the town boutique in the last month.

A dress worth �129 and an item worth �50 were taken.

PC Sadler said a member of staff had allowed a shoplifter to get away with the dress and he would be having words with staff to make sure they acted more robustly with offenders.

Other crimes reported between February and March were the theft of a �1,000 red speedboat from the harbour area, a �1,000 mountain bike being stolen from a garden in York Road and teenagers setting fire to papers in a launderette.

PC Sadler said a thief who broke into a yacht at the harbour to steal a first aid had been arrested after a DNA check taken at a crime scene in Essex.