In recent weeks, Tesco has gone viral for its security measures, with one viral TikTok showing a customer sliding creaking plastic covers from side to side, which seem to be shielding products.
Some of the protected items include chocolate bars and boxes from brands such as Dairy Milk, Lindt and Ferrero Rocher.
Now, one London branch is also going viral after a Reddit user posted an image of new security measures for the alcohol aisle that some are calling a ‘step too far’.
Londoners call Tesco’s new security measure ‘step too far’
Taking to the Reddit group r/London, a user shared an image of their local Tesco store alcohol aisle, showing the products locked behind doors that needed a code to enter.
Each product on the shelves was also in its own metal caged security bags with tags.
Captioning the post, the user said: “Tesco Hoover Building yesterday: every bottle is now caged and locked in a locker.
“Do they just need an electric fence and a security dog to complete the setup? How did we get to this point?”
The post gained mass attention with more than 680 comments discussing the image with some asking why Tesco has placed the security measures.
As one local shared: “Shoplifting has become too easy and hence out if control.”
Another said: “That’s like being behind the counter. Same as it has been for decades.”
It was recently revealed that shoplifting rates in London rose by 50 per cent from the previous year, making the capital rates twice the national average increase.
The latest crime statistics from the Office for National Statistics showed 80,041 shoplifting offences were recorded by the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police.
The Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has previously expressed why he thinks shoplifting rates have risen in the capital, telling The Standard: “Because we have a lot of shops here, and because the cost of living crisis is more acute in the capital city.
“Personal theft and personal robbery is a big concern for me in London, as well.
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“That’s one of the reasons why I support the [Metropolitan Police] Commissioner in him having, as a priority, neighbourhood teams.
“I’ve been out on patrols myself with neighbourhood teams, in Waterloo and elsewhere, where the work they’ve been doing with the retailers, using facial recognition, having good neighbourhood watch teams, has led to a reduction [in crimes] in those particular shops.”
Tesco has been contacted for a comment.
