Yvette Cooper's shock that even fabric conditioner has anti-theft tags

Yvette Cooper is drawing up powers to crack down on shoplifting and street yobbery – after being shocked that even fabric conditioner bottles are being fitted with anti-theft tags.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, the Home Secretary pledged to abolish the rule that stolen goods worth under £200 counts as 'low-value shoplifting' with lighter punishments for thieves.

In her speech to Labour's party conference in Liverpool, Ms Cooper will accuse the Conservatives of having written off meaningful punishments for other so-called low-level crime, such as anti-social behaviour and criminal damage.

She will promise to put 13,000 more police and PCSOs on the streets, introduce zero-tolerance zones with fixed-penalty fines of up to £500 and bring in powers to seize the off-road bikes increasingly used by criminals.

The MoS has led the way on exposing Britain's shoplifting epidemic, with a hard-hitting campaign calling for the police, Crown Prosecution Service and courts to be tougher with offenders.

'When I travel round the country, time and again people talk about their frustration,' Ms Cooper said.

'At one shop they had fabric conditioner padlocked due to an organised wave of gangs.

'The problem is, if you come in below that £200 limit, even if it is a repeated problem, we're not seeing any action taken.'