Thieves at an Asda branch have been stuffing DVDs and other stolen goods into envelopes and posting them home to themselves using the in-store Post Office.

The supermarket in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, has been forced to move its padded envelopes off the shelves and behind a desk to stop the criminals’ ploy.

It could not confirm how much had been stolen using the unusual method but attributed the problem to a “small number of customers”.

Asda was alerted to the scheme last month but it did not come to light until a baffled shopper questioned why envelopes had been moved the other side of the shop to the Post Office where they were needed.

Thieves used the in-store Post Office to evade security at the exit (PA)

In a Facebook post on the Pride in the Port page post spotted by the Liverpool Echo, the customer said a cashier at the music and games desk told him the “funniest reason ever”.

“It’s because people used to pick them off the shelves, stuff DVDs and such like into them from the store, then post it back to themselves,” he wrote.

“So, stealing without taking anything out of the store. The Post Office then takes it away without you going through the alarm gate.

“You’ve got to hand it to the crims in the port, it was worth all the hassle just to hear that story!”

Asda said the stealing, which had continued for an unknown length of time untroubled until being brought to the attention of staff last month, was a serious matter and had been referred to the police.