PLAINCLOTHES police who targeted shoplifters in Trowbridge town centre over Christmas won the battle against the thieves, says the town’s police inspector.

Insp Chris Chammings praised the success of Operation Elf, which was aimed at combating shoplifting in the busy period running up to Christmas. During December police received 11 reports of shoplifting. Six were detected and enquiries are still ongoing into another.

Two of the offenders arrested for shoplifting were subsequently charged and are awaiting court dates, while another two were dealt with by local resolutions.

Insp Chammings said: “During late November, we saw a spike in shoplifting offences, so we brought our Op Elf plan forward.

“This was tremendously successful and resulted in many early arrests and a reduction in shoplifting. We made sure people were aware what we were doing, which helped deter shoplifters.

PC Ali Davies, who was the lead officer on Op Elf, said: “The use of Storenet, which allows a large majority of retailers around the town centre to be in contact with each other and the police, was particularly helpful.

“In 2012, there were 28 reported incidents of shoplifting in December, so the numbers are decreasing, which is good news.”