Britain is facing an “epidemic” of shoplifting, the head of retailer John Lewis said today, while the owner of fashion chain Primark joined the industry’s calls for authorities to tackle the problem, saying how the company’s profit margins are seriously affected.

“It has become an epidemic. Unfortunately last year we saw twice as many such offences,” Sharon White, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, which owns department stores and Waitrose supermarkets, told BBC radio.

Yesterday, Monday, White called on the UK government to set up a commission to look into the problems facing town centres, saying they risk becoming “predation grounds for brazen shoplifters and organized gangs”.

Today George Weston, chief executive of Associated British Foods, which owns Primark, said the fashion chain had increased its spending on security guards, CCTV and to equip staff with body cameras, in an attempt to deal with thefts.

“But we need to emphasize, as others have emphasized, the role of the police, prosecutors and judges in dealing with this problem, which just keeps getting worse,” Weston told Reuters in an interview.

“They are doing more, but it is still not enough,” he added.

According to Weston, some of the thefts are “very organised” and Primark has also seen higher levels of anti-social behaviour.

His comments echo those of Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy, who said earlier this month that Britain’s biggest supermarket chain was offering body cameras to staff members who needed them.

Murphy also called for the law to be changed to make the mistreatment of and violence against retail workers a specific offense in Britain.