KEIGHLEY town centre’s Exclusion Zone is being hailed a success as it celebrates its first birthday.

Keighley traders report that town centre thefts and anti-social behaviour have plummeted following the hardline approach.

Prolific shoplifters barred from Keighley stores are heading for other less-protected towns to steal goods to fuel their drug habits.

And supermarkets, petrol stations and retail parks on the outskirts of town have been clamouring to join the innovative scheme.

Town centre boss Steve Seymour said the scheme, in which one Exclusion Notice bars a prolific criminal from dozens of shops, was “biting the backside of crime.”

The scheme is receiving high praise from traders despite an actual 16 per cent rise in shoplifting in Keighley over the past few months.

Police say the temporary rise is a by-product of a crackdown on burglary, which has forced drug addicts and drunks to feed their habits by switching to the “softer” option of stealing from shops.

Shopkeepers are now also reporting every shoplifting incident because they are confident action will be taken by the police, where in the past they would let incidents pass because they believed nothing would be done.

Police officers point out that a sharper growth in shoplifting in other towns across the area demonstrates that Keighley’s Exclusion Zone is having a positive impact.

Members of Keighley Town Centre Association were given an update on the Exclusion Zone at their monthly meeting last week.

Police told the meeting that Exclusion Notices had now been served against 115 people.

Major businesses in the town centre have reported reductions in shoplifting of up to a quarter, with four shops alone revealing a combined total of £40,000 less thefts.

Before the scheme started there were 20 shoplifting incidents each week in Keighley town centre, but there have been only 13 in the past fortnight.

Steve Seymour, chairman of Keighley Town Centre Association and manager of the Airedale shopping centre, said the scheme was an excellent deterrent.

He said: “Twelve months ago staff would have felt threatened or intimidated by these people, now they feel empowered to deal with them.”

Police inspector Sue Sanderson, who leads the Keighley Area Neighbourhood Team, said the benefits of the exclusion were really starting to show.

She said: "Shop staff have told us they feel more confident to report incidents via the radio link and the businesses themselves are suffering less as a result.

"Crime and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated in Keighley, and we hope that these notices will continue to serve as a warning to that effect."