A credit crunch crimewave has brought a surge in shoplifting and a massive increase in fuel thefts from cars and filling stations.

Supermarkets have even resorted to putting electronic security tags on organic chicken and expensive cuts of other meat.

In the past, the tags were reserved for high-value items such as drink, DVDs and replacement shaver cartridges, which are the most heavily shoplifted items.

Tags: Supermarkets are having to resort to putting electronic security tags on organic chicken and expensive cuts of meat after a surge in shoplifting

Meanwhile, motoring groups have reported a surge of up to 500 per cent in theft of fuels, both siphoning from parked cars and driving away from filling stations without paying.

One leading expert predicts the economic downturn will lead to a rise in burglaries, muggings and other crimes.

Professor Paul Wiles said long-term downward trends in crime across much of the Western world have been widely linked to economic stability and growth.

But the squeeze on household finances could send the trend into reverse.

The fact that Tesco and Sainsbury's have resorted to tagging organic chickens has stunned shoppers.

But with food prices soaring, high-quality meat is now on the shopping list of thieves who would once have targeted DVDs and perfume.

A Tesco organic chicken can cost as much as £11.33.

Demand and prices for organic and free-range chicken have soared in the wake of campaigns by TV chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall highlighting the conditions on factory farms.

Tesco is known to be using electronic tags at a branch of its Metro chain in Teddington, West London.

One shopper there, City worker Carmel White, 34, said: 'What has the world come to? It's quite unbelievable.'

But another customer, Bill Smith, 74, from Kingston, said: 'I'm not surprised people are stealing meat. Look at the prices.

'Can you believe Tesco honestly expects us to pay nearly £12 for a standard-sized chicken because it's organic?'

The bright yellow tags set off a beeper if a thief tries to take a chicken without going through the checkout.

Sainsbury's is tagging chicken and other items in a number of stores, including Hampden Park, near Eastbourne.

A store worker said: 'Times are hard and people can sell on a chicken easily.'

The Daily Mail Cost of Living Index for July shows the price of shopping basket essentials has gone up by 17.8 per cent in a year.

The price of even a standard chicken leapt 61 per cent, to £4.48 for a 1.5kg bird.

The RAC said yesterday that fuel thefts from vehicles have doubled since the beginning of the year, in direct correlation to the rise in pump prices.

The worst area is Greater London, where incidents have rocketed 500 per cent.

RAC patrolman Prakesh Patel said: 'It's alarming that we've seen such dramatic increases reported since the beginning of the year.

'These figures are clearly symptomatic of the desperation motorists are feeling amid rising fuel costs.

'We are urging drivers to be more vigilant to both protect their own fuel stock and report anyone who is trying to make money by selling stolen petrol.'