An independent Darlington shop has hit out 'scum' that has stolen from the store over the last three weeks after it has been targeted twice since the start of 2023. 

ZeeMu, which is based in Northgate in the town and sells women's clothing and accessories, has become the victim of persistent shop theft in recent times - with the store facing a shoplifter on Saturday (February 25).

After getting robbed on Saturday, the store shared CCTV footage on its social media account, which appears to show a woman putting an item of clothing in her jacket before walking out. 

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In the post, ZeeMu says: "Another shoplifter in our Darlington store, scums like these make it hard for small businesses to survive.

"Police have been notified."

Here is footage of the shoplifter below:

Last month, the store, which also has another branch in Washington, had another incident of shoplifting, which saw a man take items from the Darlington shop.

On that occasion, ZeeMu posted on social media: "Not good to rob small businesses which are already struggling with high costs and low sales due to economic crisis.

"This lady walked into our Darlington store(north gate) grabbed a few items and left without paying. If anyone knows her kindly remind her to either return our items or pay."

Durham Police have been contacted for a comment.