THEIR customers love them for their ethics, quality and value which ensures they are never knowingly undersold.

But it appears that John Lewis's Home Store at Branksome Park is being targeted by different kinds of 'customers'.

Ones that don't pay for the goods they pick up.

Since the beginning of the year the store has been hit by a wave of high-value thefts from a string of shoplifters who have stolen goods worth thousands of pounds.

Only yesterday officers were appealing for information about a woman in a fur-collared parka who they suspect of stealing a video doorbell device over the weekend.

"At around 4pm on Saturday 9 February 2019 a woman entered the John Lewis store at Poole Retail Park in Branksome and picked up a Nest 'Hello' video doorbell and walked toward the entrance," said a spokesman. " The alarm sounded as the woman left the store and was challenged by staff, but she refused to return and walked away."

Sergeant Carmel Ryan, of Dorset Police said: “A number of enquiries have been made to identify the woman captured on CCTV from the store, but these have so far been unsuccessful. I am appealing to anyone who knows who this woman is to contact Dorset Police."

Sgt Ryan's appeal comes just days after a similar appeal for information, this time about three men who entered the store on Saturday, February 2 and stole two Playstation VR headset bundles and a Nintendo Switch console. They were then seen leaving the area in a silver Peugeot Partner van, which police believe has links to the Northampton area.

Another CCTV appeal was issued on January 10 following the theft of high-quality Bose headphones. Officers were alerted after a man selected a security tagged pair of headphones before leaving the store without making an attempt to pay on Thursday January 10.

As he reached the exit he set off the door alarms and made off from the scene.

On January 4 a thief stole an Apple TV box.

John Lewis is known as a store which takes shoplifting seriously and maintains quality CCTV surveillance.

And, said Dorset Police, far from being regarded as a trivial crime, they took shoplifting seriously.

“We understand concerns and recognise the impact shoplifting offences have on the members of our business community, especially the smaller businesses, and their frustration if they are repeatedly targeted," said a spokesperson.

“We do have many successful convictions of shoplifters and can and will use other powers such as Criminal Behaviour Orders in order to deter those who persistently cause issues to shopkeepers.

“We work with the BIDs (Business Improvement Districts) and the local authorities around our response to tackling shoplifting as well as anti-social behaviour and we encourage all shopkeepers and business owners to report any shoplifting incident to us as soon as possible so we can investigate and would ask them to supply all the relevant information such as CCTV images."

He said that all reports of shoplifting will be treated in exactly the same manner, whether it is an independent store or major retailer reporting it.

*Anyone with information about the John Lewis thefts is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org.