Dorset police insist the letter was a 'mistake', but critics said it gave an insight into the strain on police resources and into how frontline officers were thinking....

Across the arcade, Steve Kent is concerned about a black "goth" coat displayed on a dummy close to the door of his hippy clothes shop (a snip at £39.99) while further down the main drag, Stuart Wildman, at the pet shop, is wondering what to do if a thief makes a move for his top-of-the range cat food. It may only be £10 a go but one armful and a day's profit has walked out of the door.

Shoplifting, of course, is an everyday hazard for retailers up and down the country. But in the seaside resort of Boscombe - a more careworn version of its neighbour Bournemouth - it was the talk of the tearooms yesterday and topping the political agenda.

A local beat police officer, Gordon Wallis, was to blame for that. He had written to traders informing them that he did not want to be bothered by reports of shoplifting for goods under £75. They took up too much police time, he argued, and ought to be dealt with in-shop. But PC Wallis went on to warn retailers that they ought to think twice about detaining shoplifters because they could infringe their human rights. Especially as it often took police so long to arrive.

All of which left the local shopkeepers scratching their heads - and local thieves reaching for the calculators to make sure that on their next spree they stayed within the £75 limit set by the police. Hence Mr Denty's concern over his corsets and the pair of bustiers which came in nicely under budget. And Mr Kent's fears for his goth coat. And Mr Wildman's pet food paranoia.

When he opened Downunder Lingerie nine years ago, Mr Denty had a huge problem with thieves. Since then he has worked hard to combat them by making sure they are prosecuted. "They get to realise that it's not worth it. They take an item worth £5, say, but have to pay a £30 fine and spend half a day in the nick. They get the message that it's not worth the bother."

But after PC Wallis's letter, the rules of engagement seemed to have changed. "I can see thieves coming in and quite cynically taking valuable items but making sure they don't add up to £75."

Mr Kent at the Dazzle clothes store opposite is furious. "We pay large business rates for the police to do their job. Under the law, theft is theft. It doesn't matter if it's £1 or £75."

At Top Pets, Mr Wildman had a novel way of describing the limit set by the officer. "£75 is the equivalent of three and a half rabbits or 11 hamsters for us. We can't afford to lose that sort of money."

Shoplifting is a growing problem in Boscombe. In 2004 there were 309 incidents. Last year this had increased to 500, an increase in workload that prompted PC Wallis to take matters into his own hands. In the letter he wrote: "It has been brought to my attention that once again we are detaining shoplifters whereby a low value of goods has been taken. An offence of shoplifting can extract two or more officers for up to two or three hours. I would like to recommend that the police are not called in the case of goods below a value of £75."

He went on: "A further problem that can also be encountered is that when you have detained a person you have taken their liberty. If there is a delay in the arrival of the police, which does happen quite often, there could be a breach of human rights."

Late yesterday afternoon, Dorset police issued a statement insisting the letter was a "mistake and incorrect" and it would continue to record and investigate all allegations of crime. But critics said it gave an insight into the strain on police resources and into how frontline officers were thinking.

Tobias Ellwood, Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, said: "This is a sad indictment on the state of policing in Britain. If there aren't enough officers to take care of these sort of offences, then there isn't enough money going into frontline policing."

Sitting on the wall under the palm tree outside the Electric Beach tanning studio, Paul, who admits to having done the odd bit of shoplifting, is a little confused. "First they say we can nick stuff up to £75, then they say it's all a cock-up. That's the problem with the law these days, you never know where you stand."

It is official, thieving has taken on a new definition in Ireland since February 2nd 2006. The trendy liberal attitudes that run rampant throughout the country have settled into our system of justice.

The la-*test*-('") GREAT idea from the Department of Justice in Ireland to assist in policing is the introduction of an adult caution system. One of the cautionable offences that will be available to adult scrotes, who admit their guilt, will be Larceny - as long as they have stolen property up to the value but not exceeding 1,000 Euro (the equivalent of about £680 Sterling). Why not use your own power of discretion as this police man has? Think of all the money he has saved by avoiding the prosecution of busy scrotes. Poor old Sting and Peter Gabriel will have to run a few more benefit concerts for the Amazonian Indians whose trees were cut down to produce the paper he used to write to the shop owners!

I think I am sliding towards cynicism as well as the pension! Has any one got any other offences that should be consigned to the caution pretend police in Room 101?

Theft is theft. But it's not so black and white, is it?

Let's face it, if we nicked everybody for a theft we were called to, it would be impossible. Most thefts I attend are under a fiver and I don't arrest as long as there's no previous. It's called discretion. But I do think that this bobby's idea of a set £75 limit is ignorant. To small businesses, £75 can quite easily be a day's takings

If £75.00 is too rich for your blood, how do you think a Garda feels when a scrote is entitled to be considered for caution for the equivalent of £680.00?

A few years ago we had a Judge in our District Court who calculated the total expense invovled in detecting, investigating and prosecuting even minor R.T.A. offences. He used to fine offenders 100's of Punts as the Irish Pound was then known ( before we got a grant for adopting the Euro ). I particularly remember one poor shagger who got cleaned for failing to produce his documents within the statutory period.