Two shops located just half a mile apart from each other are targeted by shoplifters more than anywhere else in Kent.

Latest police figures reveal the Sheerness branches of Co-op in High Street and Tesco in Bridge Road had items stolen from their shelves 178 times in just 12 months.

The Iceland in the centre of Ashford was the next most hit - but the incidents account for just a fraction of the 1,000 reports made to the force each month.

Official data also show four out of five offenders are never brought before a court - while almost half are not even identified.

KentOnline's findings have sparked concerns thieves are being allowed to get away with the crime.

Businessman Ranjit Dhaliwal, who runs a shop in Bridge near Canterbury, said: "People are struggling to make ends meet, so we are getting more shoplifters at the moment.

“The police are tied up with loads of other things, so we often don’t bother calling them.

“We’ve just been giving the thieves a telling off and telling them not to come back again. If we know who they are, we will tell their parents.

“You don’t see many bobbies on the beat anymore. Sometimes you get PCSOs, but to be honest I haven’t even seen one of them for six months."

Mr Dhaliwal, who owns Bridgeway Stores, fears the number of cases will increase as the cost-of-living crisis worsens.

The rest of the top 10 most-targeted shops was made up of big-name brands.

Two more Iceland branches - in High Street, Dartford, and King Street, Ramsgate - ranked fourth and ninth, respectively.

M&S Simply Food stores in Canterbury Road, Margate, and Maidstone Road, Chatham took fifth and eighth, while the Tescos in Courteney Road, Gillingham, and Cuxton Road, Strood, came sixth and seventh.

Despite Sheerness having Kent's most-thieved-from shops, town team chairman Phil Crowder believes it is no "worse than any other place in that respect".

"It’s a national problem,” he explained.

"Perhaps people here are more likely to report shoplifting - that may well be why it seems like it is more common in the town.

"The problem is criminals see shoplifting as a victimless crime - they think the big corporations like Tesco and Co-op can afford it.

“That is people's attitude, but for some of the smaller traders it impacts on them greatly.”

Among those to have snatched items from Sheerness businesses was Carlene Ripley, who was locked up for 10 months in May for swiping a vacuum cleaner and bottles of alcohol from the Tesco supermarket.

Then in July, a man was jailed for 20 weeks for stealing £2,000 worth of ink cartridges from the same store.

Another Sheerness supermarket, Aldi in Pepys Avenue, responded to the rise in shoplifting by introducing bag searches - which left shoppers wrongly accused of thieving in tears.

A Co-op spokesman insists the chain has implemented a "wide range of measures including body-worn cameras, product alarms and the latest interactive CCTV to deter crime" from its branches.

The only Sainsbury’s to feature in our list was its Folkestone supermarket in Bouverie Road West, which was ranked 10th.

In all, there were 12,173 shoplifting incidents reported to police between November 2021 and October last year.

On almost 6,000 occasions no suspect was ever identified. Detectives were also unable to prosecute anyone in more than 2,000 cases.

Despite this, Supt Pete Steenhuis stresses the county's force is committed to tackling the issue.

“We have dedicated officers who proactively target criminals and disrupt crime against retailers," he said.

“All reports of shoplifting are dealt with in a proportionate way.

"Sometimes officers attend incidents and make arrests - other times shopkeepers will notice stock missing and report it to the police at a later time.

“Whatever the circumstances, all crimes will be fully investigated and recorded in order to seek a positive outcome.”

Supt Steenhuis also says criminal charges are not always the best resolution to shoplifting incidents.

“Sometimes people may be stealing because they have found themselves in financial hardship," he added.

"This is why partnership working is important.

“It is sometimes more appropriate to resolve incidents through community resolution, when the person responsible apologises and pays and the victim agrees to this approach.

“Other times offenders may of course be put before the courts."

Tesco, Iceland and M&S did not respond to requests for comment.