Footage has shown another example of the shoplifting crime wave sweeping the UK and the brave heroes tackling the brazen thieves.
A video, captured on Thursday showed the unbelievable moment a shoplifter attempted to flee an Iceland store with a bag but was stopped by a member of staff who wrestled the thief.
The tussle, which also saw a passerby intervene, occurred outside a branch of the supermarket chain in Sudbury Hill, Greenford, west London.
In the clip, a man in a grey and black tracksuit attempted to run out of the store with a black bag as locals gathered round.
As a woman encouraged the man to run away, he was apprehended by a brave Iceland worker who grabbed the bag, spilling some of its contents, and was rewarded with a punch to the face by the thief.
In the ensuing scuffle, a local ran up and began punching and hitting the tracksuit-clad thief while the staff member continued to wrestle the bag off him.
More staff members came out onto the pavement and watched on while a woman screamed: ‘It’s done, let’s go. Babe, let’s go.’
The brave Iceland worker managed to snatch the bag off the attacker and backed away but was hit once more by him as he shouted ‘give me my bag back’.
The heroic shopper who jumped into the fray began shouting: ‘What the f*** are you doing? Why are you trying to fight? Shame on you’, as the thief tried one more time to wrench the bag away from the staff member.
Together the Iceland worker and local pulled the bag out of the thief’s hands before he gave up and walked away while others comforted the heroes who had stepped in.
One local called Ron said, ‘Fair play to the staff. Should be more like him.’
Pulkit Sharma added: ‘Good on the people to step up and nab him,’ while another simply said: ‘Madness.’
A Met spokesperson said: ‘Police were called at 15.18hrs on Thursday, 14 August to reports of shoplifting and assaults on staff at a supermarket on Greenford Road, Ealing.
‘No arrests have been made and enquiries continue. If you have any information that could help police, please call 101 quoting CAD 4702/14AUG.’
Iceland has been approached for a comment.
This is just the latest incident of shoplifting which has hit the frozen food supermarket chain.
Earlier this year, a video captured the moment a shop employee was seen backing away before picking up a basket to use as a shield against an intruder at his store’s entrance in Walworth, south-east London.
A customer filmed the confrontation on their phone, appearing to show the suspected offender then picking up a bag and running away down the street.
Members of the public and retail security are being encouraged to stand up to shoplifters after Matthew Barber, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley said tackling thieves was not just a job for police and criticised onlookers for simply filming instances of crime.
Mr Barber hit out at the public for being ‘part of the problem’ and encouraged shop owners to to deal with thieves themselves.
At a meeting of the Thames Valley police and crime panel in June, the PCC said: ‘If you’ve got someone in your store now stealing from you, call 999.
‘Also ideally try and stop them leaving, don’t just stand there and watch, which a lot of people do, which frustrates me.’
He added that he wasn’t suggesting everybody ‘take it upon themselves to rugby tackle’ shoplifters but that everyone should take on the responsibility in their own communities.
And the boss of the supermarket is seemingly in agreement having recently announced a scheme rewarding customers for stopping shoplifters.
Richard Walker, CEO of Iceland, hoped that the incentive would encourage shoppers to act if they spotted a shoplifter.
The supermarket is the first in the UK to offer rewards to customers who snitch on thieves.
Shoppers will be given £1 on their bonus cards each time they point out thieves to Iceland staff and Mr Walker hopes it will allow the chain to lower their prices.
The CEO revealed that the cost of shoplifting to the business was £20million annually and Mr Walker hoped that money saved from the scheme could go back in to the shops, paying for more workers and lowering prices.
However, Jon Cummins, the Assistant Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police advised against taking action and instead encouraged victims to call 999.
Mr Cummins told the BBC: ‘If they see someone shoplifting, my advice to them is they must call us. If they see it, they should immediately call us on 999 and not intervene.’
But officers regularly do not attend the scene and instead tell victims to file a report online. These are usually ignored, leaving shopkeepers defenceless to crime.
His comments clashed with those of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex, who said that there is no real purpose behind arresting shoplifters as the courts just set them free.
Katy Bourne told The Daily Telegraph: ‘There is no point arresting shoplifters if there is no effective deterrent.’