Shop owners leaving high street due to crime

Two businesses in Worthing say they are closing their shops and leaving the high street due to break-ins and thefts.

Kwik Creps and Henry Nicholls & Son Antiques both say they have lost thousands from retail crime and feel safer trading online without a physical shop.

Simon Lawrence of Kwik Creps says he is now planning to move after a break-in, and Henry Nicholls, who has owned his antique shop in Rowlands Road for 37 years, says: "It pains and saddens me that I'm giving up the ghost."

Sussex Police said they had received a report of a break-in and arrested three men.

Simon Lawrence opened shoe shop Kwik Creps in Tarring Road earlier this year but the 51-year-old is now planning to move away from the High Street to an industrial unit, following a break-in on 16 May.

Speaking to BBC Radio Sussex, Lawrence said: "I've had enough, as much as we love it around here. It's not a safe place to trade anymore.

Lawrence said: "I feel confident in what we're going to do, I'm quite sad really. We intended to offer appointments for people with neurodiversity needs to give them a private space. We're going to lose that opportunity but we have to take our safety more seriously.

"We simply can't swallow these losses. We probably lost about £3,000 worth of stock [plus the damage to the shop]."

He says he plans to move out of his current shop "within a few weeks".

Sussex Police said a 35-year-old man has been charged with burglary and would appear before Worthing Magistrates' Court on 11 August to answer the charge.

A 38-year-old man has been charged with burglary and six separate shop theft incidents.

He is due to appear for sentencing on 7 July, Sussex Police said.

A 32-year-old man has also been released on bail.

Henry Nicholls, who has owned his antique shop in Rowlands Road for 37 years, said: "I have lost tens of thousands of pounds through deceptions and thefts in the shop.

"I can't sustain that. It pains and saddens me that I'm giving up the ghost."

Nicholls says he is closing his shop in July due to crime, rent increases and a lack of footfall but will continue dealing antiques privately and at auctions.

The 59-year-old claims he has had six theft incidents in the last 18 months.

He said: "It's another retail premises in the town that will probably be converted into a café, charity shop or tattoo parlour."

Office of National Statistics data shows that shoplifting offences in the West Sussex town were down 10% in the year up to December 2025. There were 1,830 reports, compared to 2,044 in the previous year.

While the total number of crimes reported was down by 3% over the same period, reports of robberies were up by 41% and bicycle thefts were up by more than 70%.

There were 221 reports of burglaries in the year up to December 2025.

Ch Insp James Davidson, from Sussex Police, told BBC Radio Sussex: "We recognise the significant impact that retail crime has on our businesses and it is an absolute priority for us to tackle it.

"Over the past few years overall crime in Worthing has gone down and we are really targeting shoplifting."

Katy Bourne, Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, said: "There are targeted Sussex Police resources and tagging of prolific shoplifters to help drive the crime out."

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