NEW efforts to tackle retail crime in Darlington have been backed by the town's MP, Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

He was at the Cornmill Shopping Centre in the town yesterday to relaunch the town's Crimenet scheme.

The scheme, set up by police and retailers six years ago, allows information to be exchanged on shoplifters with the aid of Darlington's closed-circuit television (CCTV) system, pagers and two-way radios.

It has been revamped in partnership with crime agencies across the North-East in order to spread the net to catch travelling criminals.

The 60 members of Crimenet, which has a new logo as part of its relaunch, will now be able to examine photographs of persistent shop thieves and draw upon an expanded criminal database.

Mr Milburn said: "The re-launch of Crimenet will put Darlington one step ahead of the criminals and our competitors in other towns.

"Darlington has already led the way nationally with CCTV initiatives, and we have been incredibly successful in driving crime down with the help of the police and the local authority.

"Ultimately we do not just want to detect the opportunist thieves, but to deal with those that are more persistent and that are taking hundreds of thousands of pounds away from Darlington businesses."

Louise Payne, Darlington town centre manager, who chairs Crimenet, said the scheme had a new constitution and guidelines.

She said: "We have a new proactive plan of action which has been set up to drive shop thieves out of Darlington.

"Crimenet now has regional links and partnerships which will help target shop thieves and protect high street stores."

Inspector Sue Collingwood, of Darlington police, said: "This is very much a partnership and is about people helping themselves.

"What we want to do is to expand so that more retail premises are protected by Crimenet.

"With a more united front, we are all stronger in the long run."

Retailers interested in joining Crimenet are asked to telephone (01325) 353184, or write to Louise Payne, c/o Cornmill Management Suite, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NH.