A full-time Sussex Police team is being formed to fight city centre thefts.

The dedicated unit is taking to the streets to cope with a 12% rise in shoplifting and pickpocketing over the last year.

The officers are going undercover in nightclub and in the city centre by day, as well as carrying out high-visibility patrols, between now and Christmas.

Since April, there have been about 500 more thefts, including shoplifting, than in the same period last year, a 12% rise.

That comes on top of a 17% rise over the previous 12 months.

Operation Tea Leaf was launched in March to try to tackle organised gangs targeting visitors to the city centre and night-time revellers.

At the time seven people a day were being stolen from, with pubs, clubs, restaurants and music venues among the targets and mobile phones a favourite item to be taken.

One young victim’s mother dubbed the city a “paradise for pickpockets”.

The operation is now being stepped up for the last part of the year.

A team of one police sergeant and at least six officers is being formed to work solely on thefts until Christmas.

Officers are liaising with the Metropolitan Police over the identity of gangs of pickpockets believed to be targeting the city.

They are also tracking mobile phones when they are reported stolen to try to hunt down the culprits.

Inspector Gareth Davies, of the central Brighton neighbourhood policing team, said: “We are committing resources to combat theft in a preventative way, linking in with shops and clubs, and from an enforcement point of view targeting individuals and gangs that are known to prey on people and businesses.”

Anyone with information about thefts is asked to call Sussex Police on 0845 6070999.