More than £50,000 of goods were stolen from shops in Maidstone town centre over two years.

Between December 2013 and November 2015, items worth £55,299.39 were shoplifted from some of the town’s main shopping areas.

Around 38% of this – £21,082.44 – was taken just from The Mall Chequers.

The figures show the value of goods taken dropped by more than £3,000 in a year and highlighted which areas saw most incidents.

In 2013/14, £29,172.99 was taken from The Mall Chequers, Fremlin Walk, Gabriels Hill, High Street, King Street, Romney Place, Union Street and Week Street.

There were 282 offences which resulted in a charge – 126 were in The Mall Chequers.

A total of £12,552.86 was taken from the shopping centre in this time period.

In 2014/15 a total of £26,126.40 was taken from the main shopping areas in 212 offences.

The largest number of offences in this period happened in Week Street, where stock worth £6,343.67 was swiped in 77 incidents. More than £8,000 was stolen from both The Mall Chequers and Fremlin Walk, where 69 and 34 offences were recorded.

The largest offence in 2014/15 saw £2,000 in clothing and 40 blu-ray discs stolen.

Among the most commonly stolen items were cosmetics, toiletries, food and alcohol.

Insp Jody Gagan-Cook of the Maidstone Community Safety Unit said the MaidSafe initiative has helped reduce incidents. The system enables business owners to contact each other over a secure radio network to warn each other of anything suspicious. It also allows them to speak with the town’s CCTV operators.

Insp Gagan-Cook added: “We also have dedicated town-centre PCSOs who act as points of contact for businesses and liaise with security staff to ensure those most affected by shoplifting are able to protect themselves.

“While it is encouraging there has been a decrease in the total value of items stolen, it is important to remember shoplifting affects businesses in different ways and can sometimes be the difference between prosperity and financial ruin.”