Jukes said police were increasingly targeting the networks that profit from theft, as well as the people carrying it out.
“We know that, on high streets like this one, businesses are suffering because of the thefts they experience, and we’re even seeing businesses that are themselves receiving stolen goods selling them on.
“So it’s affecting shopkeepers, it’s affecting quality of life and, look, who wants to go into a shop and see someone clearing the shelves when you’re under pressure yourself to spend your own money and then you see that happen?
“So it matters. It matters to businesses, it matters to people’s sense of safety in London,” he said.