As shoplifting cases continue to rise, one retailer is offering shoppers up to £500 to catch thieves.

Home Bargains, which has stores in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Cirencester and Stroud, has opened a confidential hotline for customers to provide information about a theft or crime in their local store, as reported by Retail Gazette.

The discount retailer has put up posters at the front of stores with the hotline number, telling customers they can receive a cash reward for information that leads to the arrest and successful prosecution of anyone committing a crime in its stores.

Home Bargains has also warned potential shoplifters that anyone caught stealing from its stores will be automatically prosecuted, either by the police or through civil action by the retail chain.

Other retailers have introduced bodycams for staff and additional security guards in a bid to crack down on shoplifting.

The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium show the crime is costing retailers in the UK more than £1bn a year in stolen goods and £715m in crime prevention measures.