WILTSHIRE police have defended using the force's helicopter to chase criminals involved in minor offences.

They say the helicopter is scrambled to chase thieves, even if the cost of the exercise far outweighs the cost of the goods involved.

Last week it was used to track down a shoplifter after a DVD player worth £100 was taken from Safeway in Devizes. The average cost of scrambling the helicopter is £733.

PC Adrian Wells, an observer on the police helicopter, said there were no guidelines in place defining what type of incidents it should be used for.

He said: "We make the decision to go up based on our experience. The helicopter is used if we think it will have some effect on either saving a life or arresting criminals for offences. There is no check list we use for incidents."

Traders in Wiltshire have been calling for CCTV to deter shoplifters and cut down on town centre crime.

PC Wells said: "We have teams of criminals coming into Wiltshire committing offences such as shoplifting and while CCTV is a good tool, criminals can leave a place where there is CCTV and come into other parts of Wiltshire that don't. Shoplifters could also be travelling in a stolen car so if we are able to track them and catch them we can solve the crime of a vehicle being stolen. "

Mike Evans, executive officer for the air support unit, said: "Quite often if we catch these people virtually in the act it can lead to a guilty plea in court.

"Of the 12,000 tasks we have attended over the past ten or 11 years we have been to court on only five occasions.

"That indicates we are getting a lot of guilty pleas because of the good evidence we are getting and it also means the police is keeping more officers on the beat."