A rogue's gallery of the 20 most prolific shoplifters in Norwich being circulated around city stores as part of a campaign to reduce festive thefts.

A rogue's gallery of the 20 most prolific shoplifters in Norwich being circulated around city stores as part of a campaign to reduce festive thefts.

In the past two years the number of thefts in Norwich during December's Christmas shopping rush has risen from 736 in 2005 to 852 in 2006.

With this in mind, Norwich police are to increase foot patrols in the city centre and are also warning people to be vigilant to make sure their property is not targeted.

Meanwhile, the force is working in conjunction with the SIREN partnership - a digital radio link-up between stores - to pass on information about suspect offenders.

Members of the partnership will also be circulating pictures of 20 well-known shoplifters so store owners and their staff can be on the look-out.

Andy Jermy, chairman of the SIREN partnership and head of loss prevention for QD, which has a store in St Stephen's Street, said: “We are working with police to bring down the number of shoplifters this year, it is a time of year when we do have problems but with a combination of more police patrols and store security in shops in the city, we hope to stop shoplifters in their tracks.”

Staff at one of Norwich's main shopping centres, are also taking their own measures to combat would-be thieves.

A spokeswoman for Norwich's Castle Mall said: “We are glad to hear about the extra patrols. We also have our own security team who keep an eye out around the centre.”

Inspector Nick Cheshire, who is in charge of policing in the city centre, said: “It is everyone's responsibility to protect their property, so I would appeal for people to take appropriate steps to make sure it is secure.”