Baby milk locked in shop security boxes as staff say products are 'prime' target for thieves

Shoppers say they have been left shocked after finding baby milk in security boxes and removed from shelves in a bid to deter thieves.

In some stores security tags - which have to be removed when products are paid for at the tills - have been wrapped around tins of formula milk powder. The devices, which set off an alarm at a shop's exit when anyone tries to remove the item without paying, are most commonly found on high-value producst like perfume, aftershave, and bottles of booze.

They are sometimes also used to try and prevent the theft of regularly shoplifted items such as cheese, meat and coffee. Yet some shoppers have said they were taken aback to see tags used on large milk tubs.

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In one branch of Boots, in Edgeley, Stockport, the Manchester Evening News found all the large containers of formula milk had been taken off the shelves. They have been replaced with cardboard cut-outs showcasing the different products available with customers having to ask for the products, which are kept in the stock room, at the till.

One staff member said they were 'prime' items that 'get stolen if they are left out.' The measure had been taken 'years ago' they added. In a Co-op branch on High Street in the city centre the formula tins were locked in plastic security boxes which again have to be opened at the till.

In similar scenes at the Tesco Express stores on Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens, and the big Tesco Extra store near Portwood roundabout in Stockport, alarmed tags had been wrapped round all brands of formula.

And, in the Asda store in Stockport town centre yellow security stickers, which also activate the alarms, had been