Town CCTV, BID wardens and Maybird security tracked a car across Stratford and three people were arrested. Police.uk logged 47 shop thefts in July.

Three people were arrested in Stratford-upon-Avon after the town’s CCTV operators, the BID wardens and security staff at the Maybird tracked a car across town. Warwickshire Police published the account on its own news page on 9 September.

The force says it was told on Sunday 6 September that a car was coming into the county near the M40. West Mercia Police had passed on that it was, in the force’s words, “linked to a robbery of £15,000 worth of goods in the Cotswolds”.

What happened next is the part worth reading, because it is a chain of people rather than a chase.

  • Warwickshire Police’s Stratford Safer Neighbourhood Team alerted the town’s CCTV operators, the BID wardens and security staff at the Maybird Shopping Centre
  • shortly after 11am the car’s registration was picked up on the Maybird’s cameras
  • the CCTV operators and the wardens together established exactly where it had parked
  • officers moved in

The force says two men, aged 18 and 20 and both from Birmingham, were arrested on suspicion of robbery. A 22-year-old woman, also from Birmingham, was arrested “for failing to appear in court for shop theft offences”. The car was seized and is, the force says, “suspected of being linked to other crimes on neighbouring force areas”.

Nobody has been named and an arrest is not a conviction. Warwickshire Police has published nothing further about the three since 9 September.

What the town’s own crime figures show

The robbery the car was linked to was not in Stratford. Theft from shops, however, is the town centre’s steady problem, and the Home Office street-level data shows how steady.

In July 2026, the most recent month published, police recorded 237 crimes within a mile of central Stratford-upon-Avon. Shop theft was the third largest category, behind violence and sexual offences and anti-social behaviour.

Recorded crime within a mile of central Stratford-upon-Avon, July 2026 Bar chart of 237 recorded crimes. Violence and sexual offences 72, anti-social behaviour 59, shoplifting 47, public order 18, criminal damage and arson 12, other theft 10, burglary 6, robbery 1. 237 crimes within a mile of central Stratford, July 2026 Shop theft was the third largest category, and there was one robbery in the month. Violence and sexual offences 72 Anti-social behaviour 59 Shoplifting 47 Public order 18 Criminal damage and arson 12 Other theft 10 Burglary 6 Robbery 1 Source: police.uk street-level open data, one-mile radius of central Stratford-upon-Avon, July 2026. Open Government Licence. Categories with three or fewer reports are not shown. Graphic by Stratford Avon News.
Recorded crime within a mile of central Stratford-upon-Avon in July 2026, the most recent month published.

Of the 47 shop thefts, 21 were mapped to “on or near Shopping Area”, seven to Bridge Street, six to a parking area and five to Regal Road. There was one robbery in the whole month, mapped to Ely Street, and it was still recorded as under investigation when the data was published.

One caution about those locations. Police.uk deliberately places each report at the nearest street or landmark rather than at an exact address, so “Shopping Area” covers a cluster of premises and no single shop should be read into it.

What it means for you

Little changes for a shopper or a driver. What the account does show is who is watching the town centre on an ordinary Sunday morning, and it is not only the police: the district’s camera operators, the wardens funded through the business improvement district and the shopping centre’s own security staff were all in the chain before an officer arrived.

If you need to report something:

  • in an emergency, or a crime in progress, call 999
  • otherwise report online through Warwickshire Police or call 101
  • for anything you want kept anonymous, Crimestoppers takes reports on 0800 555 111

If you are heading into town, our guides to parking in Stratford-upon-Avon and to roadworks and travel cover the practical side, including the Food Festival closures on Bridge Street this weekend.

Sources

  • Warwickshire Police, “Three arrested following traffic stop in Stratford-upon-Avon”, published 14:12 on 9 September 2026. Every detail of the incident above, including the ages, the home city, the grounds for each arrest, the £15,000 figure and the seizure of the car, is from that statement and is quoted or reported as the force worded it.
  • police.uk street-level crime data, July 2026, a one-mile radius of central Stratford-upon-Avon, for the 237 recorded crimes, the category breakdown in the chart, the 47 shop thefts and their locations, and the single robbery. Published under the Open Government Licence. Figures are for the month police recorded them, not the month they happened.