SHOPS and garages are being targeted in a bid to protect busineses from shoplifters this summer.

Criminals who target retailers in the Valley will be top of the police agenda in the coming weeks as Operation Tealeaf gets underway.

The operation will see covert police patrols and extra CCTV monitoring as well as lifesize cardboard cutout police officers placed in shops.

Officers said the cardboard cutouts would warn people of both overt and covert police activity.

Crime Prevention Co-ordinator PC Phil Buck said: “We are determined to crack down hard on shoplifting.

"People might think it is victimless but it isn’t.

“It costs businesses and consumers in the long run plus people committing offences are often involved in other crimes too.

“Working with security staff, with shop workers and vigilant members of the public, we are determined to make sure thieves know they aren’t welcome.”

Amanda Price, who runs the Spar at Holmfield Garage, in Rawtenstall, has praised the cardboard cut-out scheme.

She said: “The cardboard officers proved very effective in reducing crime on my forecourt.

“Drive offs definitely dropped whilst they were in place.”

Sergeant Marianne Slater, said: “There is no replacement for real police patrols and the cardboard cut outs are most definitely not a replacement for real patrols.

“They are simply there to warn thieves of regular patrols and to advertise other police activity such as crime prevention events and CCTV monitoring.”