Cambridgeshire Police made 25 arrests after visiting nearly 250 businesses across the county in March.

Officers took part in a week of action between March 18 - March 25 to help tackle business crime in the area.

The week tied in with the police initiative, Safer Business Action Days, which aimed to help retailers stay safe against criminals.

Officers also spent the week working alongside retailers and private security staff in defined areas for individual days of targeted activities.

This included high-visibility patrols, proactive work against known offenders, and crime prevention initiatives.

These activities led to the arrest of 25 people for various offences relating to business crime.

A breakdown of the arrests - how many were there in your area?

Fenland

- One arrest (charged)

- One offence (theft from shop)

- Awaiting court appearance

Huntingdonshire

- Five arrests (three charged, one bailed, one cautioned)

- Total of six offences (theft from shop, assaulting an emergency worker, criminal damage)

- All awaiting court appearances

Peterborough

- 11 arrests (eight charged, three bailed)

- Total of 16 offences (theft from shop, assault, possession of a knife in public)

- Four people sentenced (seven days prison, six weeks prison and £100 compensation, £64 compensation, 20 weeks suspended and £180 compensation - others awaiting court appearance)

Some of the other offences were; shoplifting, business burglary, breaching Criminal Behaviour Orders, assaults, criminal damage and possession of weapons.

Of the 25 arrests, 60 separate charges were made with 32 of them for theft from a shop.

Overall, Cambridgeshire Police Neighbourhood Policing teams spent a total of 529 hours with 249 different businesses across the county.

They also spent time at market stalls, post offices, libraries, banks, building sites and pubs.

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Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Sam Tucker, who lead the week of action, said: “There can be a misconception that ‘lower-level’ criminality such as theft, retail crime and criminal damage are less important and given less priority than other crimes.

"However, we recognise the impact these offences have on victims, businesses and employees including financial loss, abuse, threats and intimidation.

"We will continue to work tirelessly to arrest and put before the courts anyone committing offences in Cambridgeshire."