Shoplifters driven from York's main shopping area by CCTV cameras and police crackdowns are now targeting outlying stores.

Beleaguered shop owners out of the range of the cameras say crime has risen substantially over the past year, with one reporting goods worth around £5,000 being stolen in the last 12 months, and another reporting around £300 a week.

Dave Dee, who owns the Apollo Warehouse in Apollo Street, and the Banana Warehouse in Piccadilly, said the latest theft from his stores was a decommissioned Second World War machine gun - valued at £200 - which was stolen earlier this week.

"I'm absolutely fed up with people stealing my stuff," he said.

"The shoplifters in town are now coming to our area, and I reckon they've cost me abut £5,000 in the last year.

"We never really had it until a year ago, and now they are really hammering us."

Peter Wallis, owner of Clifton Moor-based Wallis Business Services, which has a store in Gillygate, said crime had escalated over the past two years to such an extent that the firm had brought in a security guard.

He estimated thefts to the value of about £300 a week before the guard was employed

"Shoplifting has got worse over a period of time, and not just in frequency but now it just seems to be so blatant," he said.

He added that the success of the city centre crime blitz could account for the increased crime.

Mark Johnson, manager of The Fireplace, in Piccadilly, said the store had never experienced shoplifting until about eight months ago.

"Crime seems to have gone down in the shops in the heart of York while it has risen outside," he said.

"The criminals seem to be stretching out towards us now."

Community safety officer PC John Bolton said that the spreading shoplifting menace could be tackled if the traders signed up to the Retailers Against Crime in York (RACY) initiative.

"We have had amazing success with the scheme so far and other traders would be more than welcome to join," he said.

"The scheme has been successful even in the city suburbs where there are no CCTV cameras."

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