Video shows suspected shoplifters being confronted by a shopkeeper - who says he has carried out more than 50 citizen's arrests on thieves in two years.

Martin Gaunt says he feels left with no choice other than to front up to offenders to protect his shop Happy Piranha in Truro, Cornwall.

The shopkeeper has defied criminals inside and outside his shop - telling them he has the right to detain them until police arrive.

He has also installed 12 CCTV cameras across the three shops he has in the seaside town centre.

However, the 62-year-old says he doesn't have 'proper' support from the police - adding that the criminality is affecting the whole community in town.

Various videos show him confronting suspected shoplifters outside his store.

He said: "We are now at a stage where our streets are becoming dangerous because we are not tackling the problem at grassroots level."

"The shoplifting that I want to prevent isn't because I am worried about losing a £20 teddy bear - the issue is how it affects the whole social fabric of the town and the community."

"In a town like Truro we will lose at least a million pounds a year - if not two million pounds or more - in theft. And that is all going to stimulate crime."

Office of National Statistics figures reveal there were 469,788 incidents of shoplifting in the year to June in England and Wales - a surge of 28 per cent on 2023.

And in Devon and Cornwall, the rise was as much as 37 per cent - yet across the country less than a fifth of recorded shoplifting offences resulted in a charge or summons in the year to last March.

Mr Gaunt uses his powers of arrest under Section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

His approach when conducting citizen's arrests is to stand in the way, maintain close contact without touching them and if necessary pull their bag.

If they attempt to escape he then has to get in front of the criminals - and it is at that point that he can decide if he can hold them by the arm.

But sometimes it can become violent - even though Mr Gaunt says they do everything they can to avoid it.

He said: "We don't want to get hurt. Does it cause me anxiety and stress? Yes it does. Could I avoid it by not approaching the shoplifters? Yes I could - but what will happen to community?"

Mr Gaunt added: "People aren't that happy - they don't believe you've got the right to touch them and detain them and you have."

"I had one situation where I had a visit from a chief inspector because I had been complaining to our police commissioner - whilst he was here we were robbed and we managed to get him to help us with that one."

"The person that we stopped had recently been released from prison was carrying knuckledusters, had large amounts of cash on them and prescription drugs unboxed."

Mr Gaunt said crime in his store as become an 'epidemic'.

He said that shoplifters tended to be a mixture of people with drug and alcohol addictions.

And in one instance a young woman who was being run by a county lines dealer from the Midlands had to be stopped after trying to shoplift from the store.

He said: "An element from shoplifting is undertaken by people with addictions - and what happens is they will steal products, walk it 10 minutes down the road sell it to the market trader and that marker trader will give them cash for the product. "

"They take that money and then they go and buy their next hit with it. "

"In town that becomes like a cash machine for them - that then attracts all of the detritus that comes with drug dealing."

"One stop that we made a young lady was very upset she was in her early 20s and when we asked why she was so upset she explained she wasn't frightened of us she was frightened of the county lines drugs dealer in the Midlands that was making her go into stores to steal product which he could then turn into cash and how she was being abused physically by this organisation. "

"The shoplifting that I want to prevent isn't because I am worried about losing a £20 teddy bear - the issue is how it affects the whole social fabric of the town and the community."

"In a town like Truro we will lose at least a million pounds a year - if not two million pounds or more - in theft. And that is all going to stimulate crime."

Since they have been using citizen's arrests their repetitive thefts from 'addicts' has dropped off 'massively' - going down by 90 per cent, according to estimates from Mr Gaunt.

"The reason is they realise coming into our store we will stop them. We will try to detain them and try to get the police involved," he said."

However Mr Gaunt said that when they do it there is 'no support' from the police.

He said he had to write to the Home Office after his local inspector 'refused' to acknowledge that citizens' arrests was a viable and legal tool.

He said: "I got a letter from them confirming that civil arrests whilst strictly speaking is for indictable offences only there is an additional clause which also brings into that category - low level shoplifting. "

"Even relatively good people don't believe that stealing from shops is a proper crime - because nothing is done about it. "

"If you relate it to speeding offence people are afraid of it because there are speeding cameras, speeding fines, penalties on your licence - at the moment that seems to be nothing to deter people from shoplifting and because of that we got an epidemic. "

"If there is no liability, no consequence people don't think it is a crime."

"We are now at a stage where our streets are becoming dangerous because we are not tackling the problem at grassroots level."

Justine Hyde, who runs Hyde and Seek lifestyle store in Exeter, describes the issue as "pretty prolific" - with four incidents so far in 2024."

She explained how it has become more of a problem year by year - having lost thousands of pounds per annum from shoplifting and missing stock every week.

"I reinvested nearly £1,500 worth of CCTV and hardrive - without that we would be in trouble," she said."

Ms Hyde added that she is 'extremely worried' that there is no support - being left on her own policing her own shop.

She added: "I am really concerned about the future. We are a independent business and we are struggling anyway."

Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for acquisitive crime, told the BBC they were 'committed' to cutting shoplifting and holding offenders to account.

She highlighted guidance in the Retail Crime Action Plan such as pursuing all 'reasonable lines of enquiry and prioritising attendance in incidents where violence is involved or an offender has been detained'.

She also urged anyone to 'prioritise their own safety' and dial 999 if a crime is occurring.

Devon and Cornwall Police told the BBC it was committed to working with retailers and ensuring criminals faced justice, while deploying resources based on threat, risk and harm.

The Home Office said the government was pursuing 'strong action', including getting rid of the £200 threshold and specifically criminalising assaults on retail workers.

A spokesperson also said: 'The NPCC recommends only trained security guards detain offenders and forces will prioritise attendance at these incidents.'