A free speech row has been sparked after a shopkeeper was told by police to take down a sign which called shoplifters "scumbags" because it could cause offence.
The handwritten note was put up by Rob Davies after repeated thefts in his store.
It read: "Due to scumbags shoplifting, please ask for assistance to open cabinets."
However, his shop in Wrexham was then visited by officers from North Wales Police who told him to take down the sign as it could cause offence.
Chris Philip, the Shadow Home Secretary, said on Friday: "This is madness. Causing offence is not criminal and is none of the police's business.
"They should be catching shoplifters, not worrying about offending them.
"Frankly, shoplifters are scumbags. This woke, weak nonsense is a total waste of police time."
RUN RAGGED
|The handwritten note was put up by the shopkeeper after repeated thefts
Davies has operated Run Ragged, a vintage clothing store, for five years.
He said: "Over the past year, I have caught five people shoplifting.
"The first one I called the police and they handed the shirt back to me and let him go.
"Now I don't bother reporting them and I have had to put locks on my cabinets."
RUN RAGGED
|Rob Davies has operated Run Ragged, a vintage clothing store, for five years
Describing the moment he was told to remove the sign by police, the 61-year-old said: "You couldn't make it up. When I asked who it could offend, I was told a member of the public had reported the sign to them.
"I just wonder if that person was a shoplifter who was offended as it was detrimental to their work."
He added: "It is a freedom of speech thing. You should be able to speak freely in this country unless you are being derogatory.
"Shoplifting is pretty much decriminalised, so I took it into my own hands."
Davies added he felt let down by the police and was astounded "that the powers that be do nothing".
It comes amid a growing shoplifting epidemic across Britain, with figures showing there are approximately 1,400 thefts every day.
That equates to nearly three offences per minute during the average UK store opening times of 9am to 6pm.
Former Tory leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, said: "There is a shoplifting epidemic on the streets of Britain, gang members are stealing whatever they want, violently threatening customers and shopkeepers while filling sacks with stolen goods.
"This is antisocial behaviour run riot. And what do police do? They warn the shopkeeper instead of arresting the thieves."
Earlier today, during a meeting with Foreign Secretary David Lammy, US Vice President spoke about ongoing threats to free speech.
JD Vance said the West had become "too comfortable with censoring", and warned the UK not to go down the "very dark path" or curbing free speech.