As part of a new crackdown on shoplifting and abusive behaviour towards retail staff on UK high streets, the government is investing £55m in facial recognition technology.

It plans to introduce a range of community sentencing measures including serial offenders being made to wear tracking tags and prison time for up to six months, as well as unlimited fines.

But to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place and catch perpetrators in the act, the government is investing £55m in the use of facial recognition technology.

This investment will include £4m for mobile units that will capture live footage of crowds in towns and on high streets. Facial recognition technology will then scour these images and alert police if it identifies specific wanted individuals or those banned from that location, including repeat shoplifters.

The investment follows the government’s development last year of the Pegasus project. This project requires the UK’s biggest retailers, including Marks & Spencer...