A man has been arrested in in connection with a spate of thefts on the Isle of Wight including an early-morning break-in at a Premier convenience store in Newport.
According to local reports, Hampshire and IW Constabulary was investigating a series of break-ins in the early hours of Thursday (May 23).
At 2.30am, The Little Cow Shed in Havenstreet is said to have been broken into, and a box containing cash was stolen.
Premier Ultra Stores on Clarendon Street in Newport was broken into between 4am and 5am, with a large quantity of tobacco products were stolen.
At around 4.30am, a vehicle was used to cause damage to the shutters of a jewellery store on Sandown High Street, police said.
Nothing was reported as stolen from the jewellers.
It was reported on Saturday (May 24) that a 40-year-old man from Newport has been arrested on suspicion of theft from shops, in relation to these incidents.
There has been a consistent rise in the retail crime over the years in the UK.
Figures from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) 2025 Crime Report show incidents of shop thefts across local stores were up from the 5.6 million recorded in the previous year.
Crime cost retailers an estimated £316m over the last year and retailers spent more than £265m on crime prevention and detection measures in their stores over the same period.
Taken together, the cost of crime and investment in crime prevention amount to a 10p crime tax on every transaction in a convenience store, says the ACS.
