Archie Norman, the chairman of Marks & Spencer said that shoplifting is "creeping in" among the middle class because of faulty self-checkouts.
He said that the surge is due to the well-off shoppers being "tempted" to walk out without paying for their items when self-checkouts failed to register their
items properly.
The M&S chairman told LBC's podcast Money with David Buik and Michael Wilson that shoplifting has become a "global problem".
"It's too easy to say it's a cost of living problem. Some of this shoplifting is gangs. Then you get the middle class," Mr Norman said.