Shoplifting is costing shops in a Shropshire town about £7,000 a month, shocking new figures revealed today.

Traders in Market Drayton are losing cash because thieves steal relatively small amounts of property which mount up to thousands in lost revenue, the town’s chamber of commerce has claimed. Now bosses are set to hold talks with police to see what can be done to stop shops being clobbered by thieves.

The figures come from a snatch survey of retail premises trading in the town, which was carried out by the chamber earlier this year.

The shocking figures reveal the mounting cost to businesses of criminal activity as the recession continues to bite.

Roy Aldcroft, chamber of commerce chairman, said: “We are talking about £7,000 a month going out of the town, which includes chain stores and small retailers, as a result of shoplifting.

“If that was £7,000 of property taken in one go it would be treated as a big crime but because it’s little bits here and there it gets treated as anti-social behaviour.

“Most people don’t realise it’s such a problem but when you total it up you realise the scale of it.”

Andy Brown, a chamber member and the boss at Sport United in Shropshire Street, said: “Shoplifting has been a big problem in Market Drayton and the majority of it is drug-related because addicts are taking just enough stuff to pay for their next fix.”

Alan Lane, from Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, said the figures were “surprisingly high”.

He said: “It’s probably a reflection of being in recession because people steal when times are tough.”

Fred Jones, a member of Team Telford Safer Stronger Businesses, said retailers in Telford & Wrekin were being urged to sign up to the police-backed Ringmaster scheme to combat shoplifting.

More than 800 traders have signed up to join the web-based network, which helps members stay in touch and give each other early warnings in the event of a spate of thefts.

Richard Goodchild, scheme manager of Shrewsbury Shopwatch, said the latest crime figures showed reported retail crime in the town centre was down.

While he had no figures for the extent of shoplifting in Shrewsbury, he said: “I would say 95 per cent or more of the persistent shoplifting offenders in Shrewsbury town centre have some drug-related problem.”