THIEVES who have targeted small businesses in Brighton have been warned that they will be caught.

Throughout 2019, there were reports of break-ins at shops and businesses across the city, which Katy Bourne the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner described as “quite frightening”.

At a performance and accountability meeting, Giles York, Chief Constable of Sussex Police, assured Mrs Bourne that those responsible would be brought to justice.

He said: “We have got a track record of tracking people down, sometimes days or weeks after the event, but we will still find them.

“If they’re sitting there thinking ‘I’ve got away with this because it happened a week ago’ they haven’t.

“Because somebody’s going to recognise them, somebody’s going to find them, and we are absolutely intent on bringing these people to justice.

“It is not acceptable for our business owners and people working in the businesses to have to suffer this.”

Mr York said it was ‘absolutely essential’ for businesses to report such incidents, to give police an idea of when the break-ins were most likely to occur.

He added: “It’s pointless putting someone there 24 hours a day. It’s about getting somebody there at the times when it matters the most.”

“The people who are suffering these problems, if they can tell us that we can start getting ahead of the curve on it.

“Only if it’s reported can we then start doing something about it. That’s absolutely critical.”