CCTV set up to help catch culprits stealing produce from outside Cornish farm
The owners are warning they will 'name and shame' any thieves
CCTV has been set up around a farm shop stall in Cornwall after local produce was stolen.
Lynne Chellow and her sister-in-law Sally run Devichoys Farm near Mylor.
They set up a stall at the entrance to the farm and leave items such as vegetables, eggs and flowers for passersby and the local community to purchase. A price guide and an honesty box are also placed on the stall.
During the pandemic the pair decided to start making jams and chutneys to sell too, and they say it was a great success with lots of kind messages being left.
As some family members were stuck at home, they began making homemade crafts and products to also sell.
"One 94-year-old lady, Edith, that our sister knows used to knit to fill her day for the maternity ward at Treliske Hospital, due to Covid they were unable to take the items she knitted, leaving her without purpose. We now sell them on the stall for her, and it's given her purpose.
"Clive, 77, is a family member who turns wood into bowls, egg cups, rolling pins, and has donated some of the proceeds to NHS.
"June our 85-year-old Aunt comes up with ideas for sown produce such as face masks, and her ideas get turned into the real thing by her friend Fiona.
"Tom, Lynne’s son, keeps the stalls going with logs for our customers first. Josh, her nephew makes wooden trays."
Lynne and Sally
Over Halloween the pair decorated the stall and left out treats for the children. At Christmas it was covered in fairy lights, with reindeer and Santa in his sleigh on the roof.
During the summer last year, the pair says there was some theft from the stall so they put up warning signs.
But a few weeks ago, at the end of January, £59 worth of goods were taken with no money left in the honesty box.
The pair decided to carry on with their much-loved farm stand and installed CCTV.
Just over an hour after putting the cameras up, they caught their first culprit.
"The footage showed the first culprit taking two pots of jam and a pot of pickled red cabbage. His image was captured clearly by the cameras, we reported it to the police and these images were also placed on Facebook, this led to the identification of this person. This was passed to the police and he was issued with a Community Resolution Order.
"A poster of shame of him and his name is on each stall. We have a poster which reads we WILL name and shame anyone that steal or pretends to put money in the honesty box, on social media and on our stall.
"To our amazement on February 14th, beggar’s belief a women was captured by our cameras taking a £5 bunch of flowers, and a £3 jar of Marmalade, again we reported to police. We developed our own Facebook page Devichoys farm stalls and posted the images. Again the public came up trumps, with her name and address, which we updated the police with, and on Sunday a week after she had been caught out, the police issued her with a Community Resolution Order, and she paid what she owed."
Sally and Lynne
Sally and Lynne are now warning that anyone else caught stealing goods from their farm stall will also be named and shamed.
They have made wooden 'stocks of shame' where they have put CCTV images of the culprits.
"Our loyal customers have given us such support and beg us not to be deterred and keep going. This has made us do just that! We WILL not tolerate theft of any kind as we were brought up to know theft is theft and a criminal offence, whether it is a jar of jam or the crown jewels. "
Sally and Lynne