THREE women have been arrested after thousands of pounds worth of goods were stolen from a Basildon store.

An estimated £7,500 worth of items was stolen from Boots, in Town Square, on August 4.

The discovery was made later on in the day and led to security teams from the store reviewing their CCTV footage from that day.

On August 7, the crew had gathered enough evidence to put their case to the police and three women were later arrested by the Basildon’s policing team on suspicion of two counts of theft.

A spokesman for the policing team said: “We received reports from security at Boots in Basildon town centre asking for assistance over the town link radio.

“Three females were detained by town team officers and arrested on suspicion of two thefts from boots with an estimated value of £7,500.”

They are in custody at this time for questioning.

A spokesman for Boots said: “We can confirm there was an incident of theft on August 4 at our Town Square, Basildon store in Essex.

“We are working with the police and are unable to comment on their ongoing investigation at the moment.

“But we would like to reassure our customers that the store is open for business and trading as normal.”

The police and security teams’ efforts have been praised by residents.

Emma Masser, who lives in Basildon, said: “Thank you to Essex Police in Basildon. It’s made us feel a lot safer in our jobs even if it’s just having your presence in the town.

Donna Bradley added: “This is really great news from the police.

“I don’t think our problems are with the police but the lack of sentences and deterrents, these people know if they get court it’s a slap on the wrist.

“I hope these people get the right punishment.”

George Sanderson said: “I’m glad these shoplifters have been caught.

“People in our town are just getting fed up with people thinking they can just take what they like and do what they want without any fear of punishment.

“We need to make sure we’re cracking down on them and making sure there’s a good deterrent for others.”

Anyone with information about thefts from Basildon stores should contact the policing team on 101 or email them at basildoncpt@essex.pnn.police.uk