Police caught people as young as 15 shoplifting in Carlisle during a covert operation in the city centre.

Officers in plain clothes joined constables, PCSOs, retail security staff and CCTV operators for special operation on Monday.

The police and other groups - known as Carlisle Shopwatch - work together daily to prevent and detect shoplifting and fraud but hosted a special exercise in a bid to catch criminals.

In total seven shoplifters were detained during the operation and a "considerable amount of goods" were recovered and returned back to their original stores.

The age of the shoplifters caught ranged between 15 and 40 years old.

Sgt Chris Blain said: "A number of the offences were dealt with by restorative justice while others have been reported for the offence.

"Circumstances and methods of disposal are different due to age and previous circumstances."

In a bid to prevent crimes of this type Carlisle policing team and Carlisle Shopwatch have a well-established radio link which is used daily.

"We also link in with the retail premises CCTV as well as utilising the existing police CCTV systems which was being monitored during this operation," added Sgt Blain.

Officers say that more similar covert operations are scheduled to take place in the future.