A COUNTY councillor has raised concerns over the lack of people reporting crimes in a Tynedale town.

Coun. Ian Hutchinson, the councillor for Haltwhistle, said he had received reports of thefts in the Co-op and Boots stores on Main Street, in the town, but had been told that shop workers had not reported the crimes to the police.

“People in Haltwhistle complain there are not many police officers about, but when there are thefts they are not reporting it,” he said.

“If people are not reporting anything, then nothing will be done about it.

“I am disappointed that they did not inform the police straight away. The police are not going to do their job if they are not informed – they get a bad enough reputation in Haltwhistle anyway.”

Northumbria Police said the crimes were reported by a customer in the stores at the time.

A spokesman said: “On Monday, January 27 we received a report of shoplifting from two premises in Haltwhistle.

“It is believed that around 4.30pm a male had taken a quantity of vitamin pills from Boots and various produce from the Co-op.”

A spokeswoman for the Co-op said they took theft and retail crime very seriously, but were unable to comment on specific incidents.

A Boots spokesman confirmed that there had been an incident of shoplifting at the store and added: “We have a zero tolerance approach to crime in our stores, and the safety of both colleagues and customers is our number one priority.

“We are working with the police and are unable to comment on their ongoing investigation at the moment, but we would like to reassure our customers that the store is open for business and trading as normal.”

Anyone with information on the thefts is asked to contact police quoting log 829 27/01/20.