TRADERS in Rickmansworth hope to stamp out shoplifting with a new system which alerts shopkeepers to a potential threat.

The Shopwatch scheme, launched yesterday, will see stores equipped with radios allowing managers to communicate with each other and with the police when a thief is lurking.

Police have issued businesses with packs containing the names and pictures of known shoplifters so that they can identify suspects and act to prevent a crime.

PC Rob King, pioneering the initiative, said: "When thieves come down here they are not just going to one store, they are doing a few at a time. The radios mean that every shop can know as soon as they are in another shop in the town."

Thirteen shops have so far signed up to the scheme, made possible by funding from Three Rivers District Council's Community Safety Partnership to the tune of £3,000.

For full story see Friday's Watford Observer.