A Wiltshire Garden Centre has appealed for help to identify a man who was caught on CCTV allegedly pocketing £176-worth of goods and leaving without paying.

The man visited Lowden Garden Centre in Shaw, near Melksham, at around 10.30am Thursday (February 22) and was accompanied by a woman.

He was caught on a CCTV camera putting two pairs of Corona secateurs into the internal pocket of his dark jacket.

Seconds later, he turned back to grab two more pairs before hurriedly making his exit.

The man then left the garden centre without making payment. The total value of the four items was £176.

A spokesperson for the Lowden Garden Centre in Folly Lane, Shaw, said: “Does anyone recognise these two? They visited us at about 10.30am yesterday.

“Unfortunately, it looks like they forgot to pay for the 4 pairs of secateurs stuffed in his jacket (easily done I’m sure!). We didn’t even get a chance to get them onto the shelf!”

Harriet Field, a giftware buyer at the centre, said they have since reported the theft to Wiltshire Police and are waiting for a crime reference number.

She added: “We have CCTV everywhere and you would hope that it would deter people but in this case it didn’t because they looked straight at it. They have no shame really.”

“We had just had some brand-new stock in and noticed that the goods had gone.

“We then checked the stock to make sure they hadn’t gone through the tills and checked the CCTV this morning.”

The garden centre is asking anyone who can help to identify the suspects to identify to contact them via Facebook or info@lowdengardencentre.com.

The garden centre has been approached for more details and further comments.