London store in talks with police to build in-store jail cellsOne of London’s premier department stores is in talks with police to build jail cells inside the store to hold shoplifters and identity thieves, police said yesterday. Metropolitan Police said they were in early negotiations for the construction of jail cells at the Selfridges store’s flagship Oxford Street location in London. The cells would operate as “short-term holding facilities for low-level shoplifters,” a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. Police are considering the move in light of overcrowding London jails, which they say are swamped with small-time pickpockets and credit card thieves. Under the plan, 10 cells would be constructed by converting old employee offices into detainment centres, The Guardian newspaper reported yesterday. Last modified March 6, 2006 |