Undercover police officers are being deployed in the City of London to catch brazen shoplifters in the act at Christmas.

Retail crime - said to cost the capital of £16.7million a month - will spike during the festive period.

The Standard went out on patrol with Home Office minister Mike Tapp to see how covert units are cracking down on the scourge.

Around 10am, a 40-year-old male was arrested on suspicion of theft from Boots on Moorgate.

Detectives told Tapp how they lay in wait for one prolific offender when he stoke luxury gifts from a Hotel Chocolat branch in the Square Mile.

Dramatic body-worn footage shows the moment another criminal, Terrance Simonds was caught red-handed by plain-clothed officers after a £4,300 spree at Boots outlets on Cannon Street and Cheapside. He also ra

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