From visiting shoplifters at home, to displaying their pictures on the street – Kent shopkeepers are employing some brave new tactics in the battle against thieves.

Back in February, Umesh Patel was left with a bloodied and broken nose after following a young man he claims had stolen vapes from his shop – M&P News in Shepway – but he remains determined to stand up to shoplifters.

While shoplifting has been a consistent problem since he took over the shop in 2011, he says recent months have seen an increasing number of children and teenagers attempting to take items from the store – prompting him to ask under 18s to visit only in groups of two.

But limiting group sizes only goes so far, so Umesh, 49, has had to employ other tactics to combat the thieves.

“They don't listen,” he says. “They come in all together and one person buys something and the others are taking chocolate.

“Now I've changed the system. If you pinch anything in my shop I have the CCTV and I show the pictures to people and say ‘can you tell me where this boy lives?’

“I go to the houses and show the video to the parents and say: ‘Look this happened, please can you tell your son not to come to my shop anymore, and can you pay me please?’”

All in all he’s visited around 25 homes he explains, adding: “Sometimes they pay me, sometimes not.”

“If a boy takes something - drinks or anything - if you argue with him it makes it worse. That's why I do it a different way, I go to his house.”While Umesh believes police could do more to tackle the issue, he says parents too have a responsibility to find out what their children are up to.

“My message to parents is just contact your son or daughter and ask ‘what are you doing, where are you going?’ If you're my daughter or my son, if it’s after 6 and he's outside I will call him straight away and say ‘when are you coming home? What are you doing? Tell me.’”

It’s a unique approach to a problem that is growing across the county. In Kent last year there were 13,255 counts of shoplifting. This is up from 11,718 in 2021/2022.

It's the highest since records began in June 2013/2014.

And it’s not just corner shops that are being targeted. Last week, Lidl said it will roll out body-worn cameras to staff in all its stores after a surge in shoplifting and violence towards workers.

It claimed this would make it the first UK supermarket firm to ensure bodycams were used in every store.

Other retailers, such as Tesco, have provided workers with the option to wear the cameras or launched trials in recent months.

Over in Chatham, One Stop owner Sunil Sood says his method of displaying pictures on his shop window has helped prevent repeat offending.

“We've had our fair share,” he explains. “Any shoplifting we encounter we put on the Safer Medway website - still images - but I'm not sure it does anything.

“Every time we encounter shoplifting we put the pictures in the window. It doesn't comply with the data protection act but we say let this guy sue us, and we'll fight it in court, because he's a thief.

“We put it in the window and that prevents them coming back. It's embarrassing because people know it's them. That has helped stop people coming back to the shop.”

Meanwhile he says he and his staff have become more vigilant, looking out for thieves in the store and regularly monitoring CCTV screens.

Other tactics include blocking a route through the shop from the alcohol aisle – often targeted by theives – meaning anyone leaving it has to walk past the front counter.

But it’s impossible to be vigilant 100 percent of the time, and one recent case this month saw a man walk out of the shop with £200 of chocolates.

“There's so many shoplifters in Kent, it's a nuisance,” he added. “The police don't do much about it

“They collect the CCTV evidence and put it on some website which the police officers have access to.

“We notice some of them but what goes on behind us is anybody's guess. We seem to be catching more shoplifters on night shifts.

“It hurts us financially whether it's £10, £20, or £200. It all adds up. If someone steals £10 of stuff that's the equivalent of £50 for us. You have to make £100 to make that £10 back.

Read more: The top 10 Kent stores shoplifters steal from the most

“It hurts us emotionally too. This morning when I came to the shop one guy came up to me and threatened me and verbally abused me. He said I was following him but I wasn't.”

Staff also have panic buttons, which generates a police response but Sunil says offenders have usually escaped by the time officers arrive.

“Sometimes we've detained people, but we put ourselves in danger if we do that,” he adds. “Sometimes the police come and sometimes they don't.

“The police always give the excuse that it's not in the public interest because it's too expensive, but I say give them a fixed penalty notice. That way it hurts them if they have to pay a £100 fine.

“Otherwise they keep reoffending. Some of the bigger shoplifters have been prosecuted but generally speaking, they don't take much notice.

“Once they know they won't be caught, because the police are too busy, they repeat offences – they know it's not in the public interest to go to court.”

Sunil acknowledges the cost of living crisis is perhaps a factor driving some offenders to crime, while others are driven by drug habits – but he says there’s no excuse for stealing.

“Drug habits are a factor, but some people are just trying their luck,” he adds. “They have no sense of responsibility. They have no idea that it's somebody's hard-earned money. These people are usually perfectly well off and they're physically fit.”

Kent Police pointed to 12 cases across Kent in October alone in which shoplifters were either charged or prosecuted – countering the suggestion that shoplifting was not a priority.

Superintendent Pete Steenhuis, head of prevention at Kent Police, said: “Shoplifting is not a victimless crime and we do not underestimate the damaging impact it has on many business owners.

“Every retail crime reported to us is taken seriously and investigated thoroughly based on the evidence available. Between 2021 and 2022 our charge rate for shoplifting increased by 15.8% from 1,583 to 1,833 and this year we have already secured 2,189 charges up to the end of September. We have also issued 178 cautions and resolved 440 incidents through community resolutions.

“Officers across each of our local policing districts are well aware of the importance of tackling retail crime, they know who the repeat offenders are and they regularly achieve positive outcomes against them. For example in Maidstone there were 34 charges related to shoplifting between 1 and 25 October, three of which were against one person who has since been issued with a Criminal Behaviour Order.

“Whilst we are fully supportive of the national Retail Crime Action Plan, it is important to note that we have always taken shoplifting seriously and dispatched officers to attend incidents based on the level of threat, risk and harm presented. Our new neighbourhood policing model will lead to an increase in officers within town centres and rural locations where shops are based, who provide an appropriate response to reported incidents including attendance when someone is detained, threats have been made or violent acts have been committed. They also give advice to business owners on how they can help to keep their stock secure.

“Retailers should continue to report all incidents to us by calling 999 in an emergency or if a crime is in progress. Non-urgent incidents can be reported online at www.kent.police.uk/report.’