SHOPKEEPERS in Wantage are having to confront a rising tide of teenage thieves and thugs who are “terrorising” stores.

Staff say they are dealing with one particular gang of under-18s stealing alcohol and being aggressive.

One shop worker said police are “powerless” to tackle the problem. It comes after the force announced it would be closing its counter at Wantage Library from March.

Mike Brown, who manages Rowes Newsmarket in Wallingford Street, said: “We have had a group come in and shoplift several bottles of wine before being found drunk in the town centre later.

“There is one gang we’re aware of that are currently being prosecuted and we have banned one of them.

“We know police are stretched, so when these people only get a slap on the wrist we don’t blame police – it can be down to the Crown Prosecution Service.”

He urged other shops to report all trouble to police so the force could build “intelligence”.

Another shopkeeper, who asked not to be named, said one gang of teens aged 13 to 17 was “terrorising” stores in Wantage, “hurling abuse” at staff and customers.

He said the problem began around Christmas but had escalated, with the same teenagers shoplifting and giving staff abuse.

Robert Huffnagle, who manages McColls newsagent in Market Place, said staff had to deal with teenage shoplifters, but no staff had been threatened.

He said: “We’ve had the odd few teenagers come in shoplifting and it has been a little bit more than normal. But we’ve had nothing where they’ve confronted the staff.”

Thames Valley Police announced in December it was planning to cut counter services across the county, including Wantage, to save £555,000 a year.

Spokesman James Williams said the closure would not undermine police work in the town and that officers would be just as “visible” in Wantage and just as available to attend incidents.

Responding to shopkeepers’ concerns he said: “Thames Valley Police works closely with our partner agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour as well as with businesses, licensees and the communities themselves.”

He said that Wantage had only had an average of five visits a week, and that 86 per cent of people surveyed in the force area said they would prefer to contact police on the phone in a non-emergency.

Mr Williams said: “The way people interact with the police is changing – the public want to contact us at a time and place that’s convenient to them.

“It is not effective use of public money to invest in front counters that are rarely used by the public.”

Mayor of Wantage St John Dickson said he expected people to be upset by the closure.

He said: “I am pushing to see if there is any way we can at least replace the lost property service somewhere else in the town.”