Security tags are being put on tins of baby milk at a Tesco store amid the escalating cost of living crisis.
The revelation comes as rising inflation and falling living standards see families across the UK faced with a winter of unprecedented hardship.
As desperation drives thefts, the supermarket has taken the new measure of adding security tags to essential items like baby milk - as shown by pictures taken at a Tesco in Abergele, Wales.
It comes after a Tesco worker in Flintshire told reporters that the cost of living crisis was seeing desperate customers resort to stealing everyday items.
Staff member Jane told the Guardian : “We used to get shoplifters stealing high-value things to sell on, which is not uncommon. Now it’s people stealing everyday things, doing their weekly shop and trying to walk out without paying.
"Baby milk has never been security tagged but now it is, so people can’t steal it. It was something that never would happen before but people are quite desperate.”
She also said the policy of replacing manned checkouts with self-service machines had led to a rise in theft.
"There is a lot going [missing] through self-service: people not scanning everything is more prevalent than it was. There are definitely a number of things that never had security tags before but have got them now."
Jane said many items had been removed from shelves and into secure areas, with cards put out in their place.
Customers were also asking cashiers to stop at £40 and are prioritising what they need at the front of the conveyor, with many items left at the end of checkouts.
She also described an increase in crowds at the end of the day when discounts are applied to items nearing their sell by dates.
The Mirror has contacted Tesco for comment.
