Shoplifting is up 20% in the UK as choice cuts of meat, fresh fish and fancy cheeses are increasingly getting stolen, mostly by middle-class women from boutique food emporiums and convenience stores

“I suppose people want to carry on with their lifestyle but cannot afford the expensive cheeses, fresh cuts of meat or nice fish that they used to be able to afford and now they just take it. This is the first year we have seen a huge rise in theft of these items and we are being told it is for their own consumption rather than to sell on,” Neil Matthews, vice-president of Checkpoint Systems told The Times.

Stealing a loaf of bread to feed your family is one thing, but stuffing some artisinal bread, a block of five-year aged gouda and a filet mignon down your trousers? Bollocks.

How the middle class are shoplifting to keep up appearances [Times Online] (Photo: LDRBRS)

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