Roadside stalls selling locally-grown produce to passing drivers are one of the many joys of swapping city for country.

A common sight across rural Australia, the stalls are usually based on an honesty-box system where customers leave money in a secure deposit box.

Sadly, not everyone plays by the rules — they take the eggs or the veggies but don't bother paying.

Now one woman is fighting back against the thieves with an elaborate, high-tech security camera system that lets her catch the culprits in action.

The security system sits on a tree above the produce stall and the ''name and shame'' gallery. ( ABC South West Victoria: Emily Bissland )

Mary, a retiree from Warrnambool in south-west Victoria, took the drastic step because she said she was fed up with dishonest people.

Mary, who does not want her name published, said she had sympathy for those who might be struggling to make ends meet.

But she said her photographs clearly indicated that often the thieves were expensively dressed and driving new cars.

"I got to a point where I was so upset about them taking advantage of me, that I wanted to shut it all down and not bother," Mary said.

"Then I thought 'well, if I did that, they would have won' and I didn't want them to win.

"That's why we ended up with surveillance cameras — so that we know who's taking things.''

Mary's system snaps the pilferers and their car registrations.

Highlighting a decline in values

She then laminates the photographs, adds details about what was taken and when, and pins them to her ''name and shame'' gallery next to the egg stall.

She said the offenders came in all shapes and sizes.

"Some of them even have their children watching them from the car," she said.

She said her campaign was not just about a few eggs, but more about highlighting a decline in values.

"I won't make it normal, I don't want it to be normal, because it's not normal to pinch from somebody who's working hard. It's not our way of life, to cheat each other."

Local police have applauded Mary for taking the initiative.

Mary's security system captures images of those who stop at the stall. ( ABC South West Victoria: Emily Bissland )

"It's a theft, there's no question about it,'' Inspector Paul Marshall of the Warrnambool Police, said.

"Somebody's out there trying to do a decent thing, share some good produce, and it's just not right that somebody comes and helps themselves to it.

"There's an inferred contract there, an unspoken contract, that you take produce and you leave money."

Security offers peace of mind

While the security system does not always prevent theft, it does give Mary peace of mind.

Sometimes the system works in unusual ways.

"There was a guy who was $2.80 short and we put his picture up there and then his mum put a note in the box and she paid for him, so we left it up and said, 'Mum paid'," Mary said.

Mary said people often left notes, with one describing how fantastic her lemon butter tasted.

"Combined with the cameras and feedback that I get from nice people like that — it keeps me going," Mary said.