A Labour minister has admitted that shoplifting is getting "out of hand" as the crime hit a record high of more than 500,000 offences reported to police in the year to March.

Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones admitted shoplifting had "got out of hand".

It comes as police officers on Friday told a shopkeeper to take down a sign calling shoplifters "scumbags", according to The Telegraph.

However, North Wales Police clarified the sign was not illegal.

Starmer was asked if he held the same view as Wrexham's Rin Ragged retro shop owner; however, an official spokesman for the Prime Minister said "it's not the language I would directly use".

"But we have been very clear through our actions we take shoplifting seriously," he added.

"We understand the blight that shoplifting has on our high streets and local businesses."

The Wrexham shop owner wrote a note after a number of thefts.

Keir Starmer wouldn't call shoplifters 'scumbags'

It read: "Due to scumbags shoplifting, please ask for assistance to open cabinets".

However, after a public member's complaint, officers attended the 61-year-old's shop and asked him to take the sign down.

Advice from the Information Commissioner's Office outlined that it "may not be appropriate" to put images of thieves in shop windows in a local area.

The advice page from the ICO says shopkeepers trying to tackle shoplifting “must only share personal information that’s proportionate and necessary to achieve your purpose”.

Alex Davies-Jones

Director Inspector for Wrexham City Rhodri Ifans told The Telegraph that "we have not been able to locate a report of an officer attending the store".

“It does not appear any offences have been committed, and it would be up to the shop owner to decide whether he displayed such a sign in his store,“ Rhodri said.

"We will contact the owner to identify which officer it was who spoke to him, and to ensure that any incidents of retail crime at his store are reported to officers at the earliest opportunity, to enable us to effectively respond to any offences.”

Davies said he had not yet been contacted by police.

He said it was "too little, too late" and he wasn't "expecting much from them".

Ms Davies-Jones told the BBC, after being asked if shopkeepers were right or wrong to display photos, that "shoplifting has got out of hand in the country".

"That is why we have taken the action that we have done in our Crime and Policing Bill," she said.

According to the latest ONS data, shoplifting has hit a record high of 530,643 offences in the year up to March.

It's a 20 per cent increase on the previous year's total of 444,022.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced in July that extra officers would be deployed on the streets of 500 towns in a summer blitz on shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.

GB News has contacted North Wales Police for comment.