An "epidemic" of shoplifting is hitting Dorset businesses – some caused by hardship and some by organised crime gangs.

Incidents of "steaming" are said to have become more common, where a gang enters a target shop at the same time, taking as much as possible and then running.

Shop staff are often said to be terrified to tackle the thieves and those businesses who do have security find there is little one person can do against such tactics.

"From what I have been told the shop keepers are finding this very, very frightening," said Weymouth councillor Pete Barrow, at a meeting of the Dorset Police and Crime Panel.

Support is now being offered in a business-to-business scheme with the county's Police and Crime Commissioner, David Sidwick, offering to pay the expenses for 200 firms to sign up to a nationally recognised scheme.

A limited pilot project is already underway in central Bournemouth for a dozen licensed premises and is said to have been making some inroads against know criminals.

Mr Sidwick said he had witnessed shop lifting in a local Tesco store, chasing three shop lifters down the road.

He said that the incident had led the shop to joining the Safer Dorset Business Partnership, which is taking steps to improve reporting and targeting thieves who now often steal to order, sometimes passing the stolen goods on to other retail outlets, prepared to knowingly receive stolen goods.

Mr Sidwick said that targeting known prolific shoplifters was one of the most successful tactics, with a manager at the Sovereign Centre in Boscombe thanking police for their actions in reducing losses by more than £200,000 in a year.

He said that he and the police were working on ways of streamlining the process of reporting business crime, including looking at better online reporting methods.

Mr Sidwick said he was also backing the national UK Partners Against Crime initiative, which offers a platform for businesses to share information and intelligence, including allowing the police to share information about who to look out for.

He said that his office would fund up to 200 businesses across Dorset to join their platform and with training and support.

Mr Sidwick commented: "I've seen it work in Portsmouth. Gradually the shop lifters find it's become very uncomfortable for them; everybody knows them; everybody's looking out for them and they gradually move away from the areas they were operating in," said Mr Sidwick.

"I am determined to bring back hope to some of the businesses who have lost heart because of this."