Spar has been forced to put empty bottles of washing products – costing as little as £2.49 – on its shelves to thwart shoplifters.
Crooks have been making a clean getaway with the detergent and conditioner.
So dummy products are now on display.
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Shoppers have to swap them for real ones at the checkouts.
They have stickers on them saying ‘Please exchange at the till.”
They include Comfort priced at just £2.49, Daz at £3.79 and £3.99 Surf.
Others are £4.79 Fairy and Bold plus £5 Persil and Ariel priced at £6.49.
They were spotted at a store in Padiham Road, Burnley, Lancs – just a mile from Burnley’s Turf Moor Premier League ground.
It follows the same measure for jars of Nescafe Original priced at £3.09 in 2023.
One local said: “It’s mad.
“Now we’ve got coffee and washing powder behind the till.”
The store has now installed facial recognition technology in a bid to catch offenders.
Customer Dylan John, 48, popped in after the school run to buy a newspaper.
“I went in for a paper and spotted the bottles with the signs on them, he told Need To Know.
“The coffee jars had the same signs on.
“It seems thieves will steal anything these days, even fabric conditioners.
“The world has gone mad.”
Spar has been approached for comment.
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