Leicestershire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Rupert Matthews, has highlighted a shoplifting problem in the Meadow Lane area of Coalville.

A video posted on Mr Matthews' website provides an update as part of a visit to Whitwick and Coalville last month.

He says that while residents are happy to live in the area, the shops have been subjected to what he describes as 'brazen' shoplifting.

Mr Matthews says on the video: "This is the Meadow Lane area, we've got a Co-op, a cafe, a post office and two or three other shops. 

"I've been into all of them. I've also been to knock on some of the houses around here. 

"The reaction I'm getting is a two part story. 

"People who live here say it's lovely, it's quiet, there's no crime, there's no anti-social behaviour. 

"They don't have any trouble.

"But, in the shops. It's a completely different story. There's shoplifting going on. 

"There's some drug paraphernalia that's been found, which is rather off putting. And some of the shoplifting really is quite brazen. 

"So, on the whole, it's a great place to live, but I'm going to be chasing up something about the shoplifting and seeing what we can do more generally, because shoplifting really is growing across the whole region."

Mr Matthews adds that, once a week, he goes out into the Leicestershire community 'to meet the public and those working on the frontline to find out what is going on in the real world'. 

He says: "This time with the public is an invaluable part of my public engagement.

"I want to see our police build on the successes of Neighbourhood Policing, rural crime units and other recent innovations.

"By communicating and co-operating with the public, both directly and through bodies such as parish councils or neighbourhood watch groups, policing can be made more effective and more responsive to the public.

"The new police officers and funds now coming on stream enable the Leicestershire & Rutland police to tackle rural crime, burglary, knife crime, ASB, domestic abuse, and drug gangs even more effectively than they do now. And as PCC I will commission effective services to support and care for victims of crime, while taking proactive steps to prevent crime from happening in the first place.

"Making our communities safer is the reason that I became PCC, and I am now delivering on that ambition."