Underhand tricksters swapped price tags on goods .... in a Hartlepool charity shop

CCTV footage spotted people going into the Extra Mile shop in the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre and swapping the price tags on different items.

Shop management said one person even switched a £3 tag on one pair of shoes and replaced it with a £1 tag, just to get the shoes for £2 cheaper.

But it’s costing the charity money and all money raised in the store goes towards the Miles for Men charity.

The award-winning charity supports people and families who are going through a tough time, including those who are fighting cancer.

And all the stock in the shop has been donated by kind-hearted members of the public.

Shop manager Kelly Pearson said the shop would try their best to help anyone who is struggling – just as Miles for Men has always done.

“It is what we pride ourselves on,” said Kelly.

“We have helped lots of families if they have been suffering hardship.

“All the people who work in the shop are volunteers who are trying to do good. Every penny we make goes right back into the charity and to have this happen is not nice.”

“For example, we might have one pair of shoes marked as £1 and another marked as £3. These people are swapping the markers over to get them cheaper. They are doing it on clothes as well.

“We have noticed it happening a few times over the last few months but quite a lot in the last couple of weeks.”

But officials at the Extra Mile shop are not taking the con lightly and say they have reported it to shopping centre management.

And if it doesn’t stop, they say they’ll have no option other than to call in the police.

A notice from the shop on social media said: “CUSTOMER NOTICE!!....Unfortunately after checking our CCTV in the shop we’ve noticed that some customers have been swapping price stickers on some of the items and footwear...please note we are a self funded charity shop and we massively appreciate all our support we get from our loyal customers but we can not allow things like this to happen.

“if anyone else is found to be doing things like this you will be asked to leave, barred from the shop and also your photo will be passed onto the police...many thanks the Extra Mile team.”

It is only a matter of weeks since Miles for Men were announced as the Community Group of the Year at the Best of Hartlepool Awards.

The honour was given for another year of milestones which included launching the charity shop, continuing its annual fundraising 5k run and walk, offering a caravan at Crimdon for people to get away from it all, and supporting so many people through their darkest times.

Middleton Grange shopping centre manager Mark Rycraft commented: “We are aware the store is experiencing some issues with price tag swapping from a minority of customers and will be liaising with the store manager to assist in implementing some preventative measures.”