Wolverhampton is the West Midlands' shoplifting capital

There were 19,655 shoplifting offences recorded by police across the West Midlands area in the 12 months to September 2017.

Sandwell saw one of the biggest increase in shoplifting offences last year, with the number recorded by police at 2,207 in 2017 - an 18 per cent increase from the 1,878 recorded in 2016.

But despite this, figures show Wolverhampton still has the highest rate of these types of crime in the West Midlands.

The city saw shoplifting stay at similar levels with 2,263 offences in the last year – 88 shoplifting crimes for every 10,000 people living there, a huge jump from the national average.

Across England and Wales, there were just 65 shoplifting offences recorded for every 10,000 people in comparison.

Retailers have warned that this increase in shoplifting across the region in general is being fuelled partly by police forces not investigating the theft of items worth less than £200.

The threshold was introduced in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and allows anyone stealing goods costing less than £200 to plead guilty by post.

If they do not, they could face the magistrates’ court and a fine or up to a year in prison.

James Lowman, the chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, said: “The monetary threshold for police-led prosecutions to deal with shop theft offences, which can be £100 or £200 in some areas, is supposed to deal with first-time offenders and isolated offences.

“We remain concerned that this system is not effective in deterring criminals, and does not adequately recognise repeat offenders and offences where other crimes are being committed by the same person.

“The increase in shop theft offences being recorded by the police will come as no surprise to convenience retailers who have to deal with theft as a regular occurrence in their business.

“Our research suggests that the true number of shop theft incidents occurring in the convenience sector alone over the last year has risen to over 950,000.

This is especially concerning as shop theft often leads to other crimes – it is the number one cause of violence and abuse in stores, and those committing shop theft offences are often doing so to fund a drug or alcohol addiction.

“We need fresh thinking from Government and the police, because when shop theft is not tackled properly it has implications for the wider society.”

A Home Office spokesperson added: “The Government recognises shoplifting causes disruption to businesses and damage to communities and consumers.

“It is not a victimless crime.

"We are clear that all crimes reported to the police should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.”