A CHRISTMAS crackdown on shoplifting and purse thefts in Lowestoft town centre has been hailed a success.A policing priority for members of the Lowestoft Central Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) over the festive period, Operation CACM coincided with the start of the late night shopping season in the town centre.

A CHRISTMAS crackdown on shoplifting and purse thefts in Lowestoft town centre has been hailed a success.

A policing priority for members of the Lowestoft Central Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) over the festive period, Operation CACM coincided with the start of the late night shopping season in the town centre.

With concerns having been raised that shoplifting and 'purse dipping' was more prevalent in Lowestoft's shopping centre in the lead up to Christmas, police subsequently increased patrols and worked with store staff and CCTV operators to identify offenders. Officers from Lowestoft Central SNT also gave one to one crime prevention advice to shoppers, between the end of November and Christmas Eve.

And a spokesman for the SNT team said: 'Operation CACM had been operating since the start of the late night shopping in the town centre and as a result there was a marked drop in the amount of purse dipping offences in the town, as well as several shoplifters dealt with.'

The following year-on-year figures have been released to highlight the success of the visual police presence.

Between November 28 and December 24 2008 there were 42 thefts from shops - in the same period last year there were 28 incidents, which is equivalent to a reduction of 33.3pc.

Of the 42 thefts last year, 33 were detected and this year all 28 incidents reported were detected - meaning that there was a 21.4pc increase in detections in 2009.

Between November 28 and December 24 2008 there were 11 thefts from people and this dropped to seven incidents in 2009 - a reduction of 36.4pc.