Shoppers could soon be asked for their thumb-print in a bid to beat credit card fraud in Crawley.

Retailers are to be asked to try a scheme that is proving a huge success in the United States.

Duncan McKenzie, security manager at County Mall shopping centre is hoping to bring thumbprint security to the town.

He is asking the 40 retailers in Crawley who are involved in a joint crime initiative to adopt the scheme by the middle of the summer.

He said: "Shoppers who pay for goods by cheque or credit cards are invited to place a thumbprint on the credit slip or cheque. This means a permanent and indisputable record of who is making the transaction is recorded."

Retailers are provided with an inkless pad on to which customers dip their thumb. The mark is invisible and can only be seen with the use of ultraviolet light.

Mr McKenzie said: "The chemical leaves no trace on the customer's thumb and is non-toxic. The American public has embraced the scheme because genuine customers have nothing to fear from this initiative. The potential for detecting fraud is enormous."

He said Crawley was a regional shopping destination for up to one and a half million customers.

The shopping centre has recently invested £145,000 in a CCTV system, which includes 40 high resolution cameras.

The system can detect movement in remote areas and will alert security staff to potential intruders when the centre is closed to the public.

Eventually the CCTV system will be linked with cameras in the town centre, which are monitored by police.

Mr McKenzie said: "This would double the town's CCTV resources, making Crawley one of the safest towns in the country."

Other security measures are also being stepped up in the mall, including Shop Alert, which is being installed in all the stores.

This £85,000 system allows messages to be sent to shops from the centre's control room. Information about lost children or stolen credit cards can be dispatched in seconds and store staff can also alert security officers by using a panic button.

In November, Mr McKenzie introduced civil recovery, based on an American concept, where shoplifters are sent a bill by store owners to compensate them for the time and expense they incur in preventing retail crime.

The average bill is £80 and those who fail to pay are pursued through the civil courts.

There is also a town centre radio link that allows retailers to exchange information about active thieves.

Four more firms have backed a similar thumb-printing scheme in Haywards Heath to reduce incidents of cheque and credit card offences.

The Thumbs-Up scheme has reduced cheque and credit card offences by about 70 per cent in the town.

Some 21 stores are now using it including new recruits Bottoms-Up, Oddbins and Unwins.