News bulletin: ‘Massive’ supermarket theft rises linked to cost of living crisis, Eurovision to cost £2m

🏪 A "massive rise" in thefts from supermarkets may be linked to the rise in pressures from the cost of living crisis, according to the chair of the Merseyside's Police and Crime Panel.

Yew tree ward councillor and panel chair Cllr Barbara Murray said this was in contrast to the recent decrease in burglary in the city.

She said: “We had meeting with the local MP, other colleagues and police and one of the big supermarket chains in the city and there is actually a massive rise [in thefts]. I couldn’t believe the amount of theft from the local supermarket in my ward.

“Our concern is we realise people are very short of money at the minute. We we spoke to the police about it and their opinion was that kind of theft [from supermarkets] tends to be substance abusers more than people who have shortage and need.

“The message we got back from the manager of the store is clear – that no this is something else.

“When people are caught in shops can we signpost them to foodbanks where there is support rather than people becoming criminals?”

🇪🇺 Staging the Eurovision Song Contest would cost Liverpool around £2 million. Last month, Liverpool Council confirmed it would throw its hat into the ring to host the annual music event after an announcement was made that Eurovision could be held in Britain due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

🐍 A Wirral woman was given a shock when a snake slithered across a drainpipe at her home, but the RSPCA came to the rescue. The North American rat-killing corn snake was on the loose at a property on Bidston Avenue in Birkenhead. It is unknown whether the snake was discarded or whether he had escaped his enclosure.