A Morecambe councillor has told how a shoplifter offered her stolen goods on the street - but when she reported it the police took no action.
Councillor Patricia Clarke said an officer told her they wouldn't take the matter further because the stolen items cost less than £200.
Councillor Clarke, who represents Heysham North on Morecambe Town Council, said she was "disgusted" at the officer's response.
She was speaking at a meeting at Morecambe Town Hall, where town councillors raised local crime issues with two attending officers from Lancashire Police.
Councillor Clarke said a man had approached her on the street in the West End and offered to sell her jars of coffee.
"I do my shopping in the Co-Op (on Regent Road) and they are having a problem with shoplifting," said Councillor Clarke.
"Somebody came up to me with two carrier bags full of big jars, and asked if I wanted to buy some coffee.
"He said he'd nicked it from the Co-Op.
"I went to the Co-Op, I gave a perfect description of him. The police said they'd send somebody down to take a statement.
"The officer showed me a photo on a phone, and I said 'yes, that's the guy'.
"I was told they aren't going to take this any further, because they believed he'd stolen less than £200. I was disgusted."
Supt Craig Kelshaw, in response, said: "That's not acceptable. That shouldn't be happening. That's not what I expect my officers to do.
"I apologise, that should not be happening."
He said the police's Operation Vulture has been set up to tackle shoplifting in the county.
Supt Kelshaw, who attended the meeting on Thursday alongside colleague Sergeant Lindsay Brown, also said police had seen a 30 per cent drop in anti-social behaviour since the force launched Op Centurion to tackle the issue.
He said this success had been recognised by the Home Office.
Supt Kelshaw also said they'd seen a general move in youth anti-social behaviour from the Happy Mount Park area of Bare to Morecambe town centre.
Councillor Martin Bottoms, who represents Bare, said: "I live up near Happy Mount Park. I've seen the benefits first-hand."
Councillors also raised issues of street drinking in the Alexandra Square area of the West End, shoplifting in the Arndale shopping centre, and people dangerously riding e-bikes and motorised scooters in the area, including on the Promenade and the cycle track.
Councillor Joanne Ainscough also spoke about car parking on streets near to Morecambe FC on match days, saying it's "psychotic" at times.
"There doesn't seem to be any monitoring of what's going on there, and it's getting worse," she said.
Also at Thursday's meeting, the town council put forward plans to improve facilities for young people in Morecambe - saying there is a particular need for investment in local youth services, especially in areas such as Poulton.
The town council has agreed to work with Lizzi Collinge, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, to better understand and address the issues facing local young people, look into whether Morecambe could position itself as a pilot area for the Local Youth Transformation programme, identify and pursue funding, tools, and resources available through the pilot to develop opportunities for local young people, focus on improving facilities for young people in Poulton and other underserved areas of the town, and work in partnership with other young people's services like the youth charity Escape2Make and Stanley's.
* Operation Vulture is Lancashire Constabulary’s response to shoplifting across the county. The operation will see dedicated officers undertaking hotspot patrolling, increasing their visibility in targeted areas and creating strong partnerships with retailers across the county to better share intelligence, get a deeper understanding of retail crime and identify more offenders.
If you have a shoplifter in your store, report them to Lancashire Police on 101 or online. If they are using or threatening violence, or the crime is in progress, call 999 immediately.
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