Shoplifters are using wheelie bins and builders’ bags to clear entire aisles of food and drink,a Co-op senior executive has revealed.

Paul Gerrard,Co-op's public affairs director,says supermarkets across the UK are seeing their meat,sweets and booze sections ransacked as shoplifting levels surge to record highs.

The supermarket chain boss believes this rise has not been driven by the cost-of living crisis but by people stealing 'huge volumes' of goods to order.

He revealed that Co-op shops had been hit by a 44 per cent rise in shoplifting and a 35 per cent increase in violence and abuse against staff in the last year.

Mr Gerrard told the Lords Home Affairs and Justice committee there were now 1000 incidents in their stores every day - the highest level of crime and abuse the company had ever seen.

Paul Gerrard,director of public affairs at the Co-op,said that there had been a shift in approach by police since a new agreement was forged last year with the Government,police and retail industry

Mr Gerrard said that there had been a shift in approach by police since a new agreement was forged last year with the Government,police and retail industry.

Last year,Mr Gerrard criticised the police response to these cases after findings revealed they did not respond to 76% of serious retail crimes reported.

But police chiefs have insisted a centralised unit established earlier this year is beginning to 'turn the tide' against prolific shoplifters who steal for organised criminals.

The team at Operation Opal have identified 152 people involved in organised crime in just the first three months of operation,The Times reported. 

'What we've seen over the last 12 to 18 months is the willingness of the police to engage in those partnerships shift significantly,' he said.

'If I look at our partnerships over the first seven months of this year,we are looking at a 200 per cent increase in the number of offenders that the police have managed and we're looking at a 250 per cent increase in prison sentences.'