Despite warnings of a “major” trend in shoplifting, Marks and Spencer has announced it has decided to install cash registers in a rather unlikely place – in changing rooms.

M&S plans to introduce automated checkouts in changing rooms across its 180 clothing stores to speed up the process and make checkout more seamless.

According to the Telegraph newspaper, M&S aims to have this new technology implemented in more than 100 stores by early 2028. The retailer’s flagship store, Fosse Park in Leicester, is among the sites where the automated checkouts are already operational.

Once a wider store renovation is complete, the technology will be rolled out to all of its clothing outlets. Sacha Berendji, M&S chief operating officer, said: “We’d like customers to be able to walk straight into the fitting room without queuing, try on what they’ve chosen, then pay there and walk out.”

He went on to add that the brand is in the process of adding an automated checkout for each changing room area – but will add more based on customer demand.

Archie Norman, the supermarket’s chairman, noted an increase in theft by middle-class customers, attributing it to the failure at the automated checkout.

Norman claimed M&S gets “very little help from the police” when it comes to thefts – and says she believes middle-class thieves are mainly to blame.

Mr Norman told the LBC Money podcast with David Buik and Michael Wilson: “You’ve got the kind of middle class … with the reduction in service you get in a lot of shops, a lot of people go in and think, ‘Well, that’s not he did it”. “I don’t scan or it’s really hard to scan these things and I shop here all the time, it’s not my fault, it’s owed to me.”

“So you see with the self-destructs … just a little bit of that creeps in.”

However, Mr Berendji assured that M&S ​​staff would “host” changing rooms to ensure customers paid before leaving. He said: “Shaff is a major problem in this country but there are things we are all doing to ensure we can mitigate some of these losses. It’s all about choice. If you want to be served by a colleague, that’s absolutely OK and you can always be.

“But if people want to serve themselves, they can.”

Mr Berendji added: “Where some companies might cut back, maybe they feel they need to offer more choice to customers. But I’ve never gone a full self-checkout route, except at some train stations.”

But not all customers are impressed, with some branding being “stupid” and an unwise move. Twitter user Peter Ackerley wrote: “The height of madness”, while Vanessa Smith said it was: “Asking for trouble”.

Meanwhile, Twitter user Lindsey (@Lulubelle1981) wrote: “We used to work for them, this is not a smart move. Theft is rampant as it is, this will only encourage shoplifting. Absolutely stupid.”