Scared workers at the chain’s Rampant Horse Street store can clip the security cameras to their uniforms and activate them when they feel threatened.

The high-end shop has been in the city centre for decades and is well-known for its popular food hall beloved by professionals in Norwich.

But the site – the largest Marks & Spencer in Norfolk – is also a target for shoplifters who have been a blight on retailers in the city.

M&S staff have the option to wear body cameras while working. (Image: PA)

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed reports of yobs nabbing goods have increased to 6,186, up a whopping 13pc on last year's stats.

This compares to 4,589 shoplifting offences for the same period in 2023 and 5,499 in 2024.

In a recent incident at the Marks & Spencer food hall, a customer tackled a shoplifter to the ground after they saw them attempting to make off with a duffel bag full of alcohol.

Eyewitnesses described how the man enacted a so-called citizen's arrest, putting the thief into a "chokehold" until police arrived.

A concerned customer put the shoplifter into a "chokehold". (Image: @Left4fred)

But the suspect was "so strong" that he managed to keep bucking the man off his back, with one witness comparing him to a "mechanical bull". 

The scrapping duo tumbled to the ground by the flowers section, knocking over a shelf full of house plants. 

About 10 shocked passersby, including children, gathered in the street and watched through a window as police arrived to disperse the disorder. 

Paul Jarvis, 47, was charged with theft and criminal damage following the incident.

He pleaded guilty at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on January 31 and was told to pay costs and compensation.

M&S in Rampant Horse Street. (Image: Google Maps)

The 47-year-old was also arrested for breaching the terms of his licence and has since been returned to prison.

A spokesman for M&S said: "The [body cameras] have been in place for a while in all of our stores.

"Certain security colleagues will wear them based on their role, and general customer assistants can choose to wear them if they want to, but they don't have to. It's their choice."

The staff member present throughout the disorder was not wearing a body camera.

Staff head-butted and acid thrown

 Shoplifting and violence have become so common at M&S stores across the country that the retail director of the brand, Thinus Keeve, has urged for more to be done to stop the crime.

At the end of March, a mob of teenagers staged a "link-up" riot on Clapham High Street in London, looting and damaging stores including Marks & Spencer.

 The frenzy, which was fuelled by a TikTok trend, saw hundreds of youths descend on the street and set off fireworks, forcing shops to close.

Photos showing the chaos following the "link-up" riot on Clapham High Street, which saw M&S be targeted. (Image: Social media/Web)

Six people were arrested and a 48-hour dispersal order was put in place as a result.

Keeve's statement, addressed to mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and shared on the M&S website, said: “In the past week alone we have had gangs forcing open locked cabinets and stripping shelves, two men brazenly emptying the shelves of steak and walking out, a large group of young people ransacking a store before assaulting a security guard, a colleague head- butted trying to defuse a situation and another hospitalised after having ammonia thrown in their face.

“It is worse in London, but it is happening across the country, and it is becoming routine, because it seems there are no consequences.”

© Norwich Evening News