Arrests have been made after police recovered a large quantity of Lego stolen from Lancaster city centre shops.
The haul of Lego - including Lego Star Wars and Super Mario characters - was taken from Game and The Entertainer in St Nicholas Arcades over the Christmas period.
Police arrested a man for handling stolen goods after recovering Lego from an address on the Vale in Lancaster, then made a further arrest for handling stolen goods in Lancaster.
Det Insp Adie Knowles spoke about the arrests on Beyond Radio on Tuesday night, during his regular 'Beyond the Beat' segment on The Resident.
"Generally speaking shoplifting has been on the rise for a little while, and usually towards the festive period there is an upturn," said Det Insp Knowles, pictured below.
"Specifically in Lancaster we had an upturn in certain shops, with a large quantity of Lego being stolen from a couple of city centre shops.
"We conducted a warrant under the Theft Act and recovered quite a lot of Lego at an address on the Vale where a chap was arrested for handling stolen goods.
"Then we made a further arrest in Lancaster and recovered further quantities of Lego. They were arrested for handling stolen goods."
Det Insp Knowles said the police's Operation Vulture is in place to tackle shoplifting to protect local businesses.
He said the detection rate on catching people was 18 per cent in 2023, and last year it was 43 per cent.
"We're trying to do our bit to try to keep businesses safe," he said.
"Having (community beat manager) PC Shaun Foster in the city centre is a great addition to the team. He likes being out on foot and local businesses and Lancaster BID will speak to him on a daily basis. It's that visible presence, trying to keep businesses safe."
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