Co-op is marking products targeted by thieves with an invisible, forensic spray in a retail crime crackdown. Invisible to the naked eye, the spray has a code which relates only to the Co-op branch where the item was on sale.

The retailer's aim is to help track down where stolen products are being resold. This includes in other outlets or online. The spray is being applied to things which are stolen most often, including alcohol, confectionary, coffee and laundry detergent.

Police would need to recover the marked goods in order to trace them back to the branch where they were stolen, according to industry magazine, Retail Gazette.

Paul Gerrard, policy director at Co-op, said the retailer has made it harder to steal things and would now make it harder to sell.

Branches in Manchester and London have been trialling the technology. There are now plans to roll it out across the country.

Mr Gerrard said: "This is not about an extra avocado going into an M&S bag. It is about people taking out an entire meat section for resale."

He explained that organised criminals increasingly take large amounts of products for resale.

News of Co-op's move comes as figures released on Thursday (April 30) show convictions and sentencings for shoplifting in England and Wales have climbed to their highest level for nearly a decade.

There were 48,849 convictions at criminal courts last year for a principal offence of shoplifting, up 19% from 41,014 in 2024.

This is the highest total since the 49,434 convictions recorded in 2017, according to data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The average length of a custodial sentence was 2.4 months, the highest since current data began in 2017, when it stood at 1.8 months.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer claimed in a speech on Monday that "the tide could be turning" against shoplifting.

He set out the Government's efforts to crack down on retail crime, including the scrapping of the "ridiculous" rule which left theft of goods worth less than £200 "not properly investigated" by police.

In an address to the Usdaw shopworkers' union, Sir Keir said: "We've toughened up punishment too - we're giving police stronger powers, making the abuse and assault of retail workers a specific crime and giving you the same protections as emergency workers."

Meanwhile, the Centre for Social Justice think tank warned of a high street crime epidemic. It highlighted figures uncovered by former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith through parliamentary questions which showed the extent of repeat offending.

The think tank's analysis showed the average number of offences committed by shoplifters has nearly doubled in five years, rising from 5.5 to 9.1 offences per convicted thief.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed shoplifting offences fell slightly last year, down from 516,611 in 2024 to 509,566 in 2025.

However, the small drop in shoplifting in the ONS figures may reflect a change in how such offences are recorded.

Co-op reported retail crime incidents at its stores falling 21% and physical attacks on staff dropping almost a third (31%) year on year.