Shopkeepers and business leaders are angry over proposals that would mean persistent shoplifters would no longer be sent to prison.

Serial thieves would only face jail in exceptional circumstances - using violence, stealing high value goods or involving children in their crimes - if the Sentencing Advisory Panel suggestion went ahead.

Each year thieves steal goods worth about £3 million from Brighton and Hove shops.

Lisa Perretta, of the Business Crime Reduction Partnership which represents more than 300 firms in the city, said the proposals were "absolutely ridiculous".

She said: "They are almost an invitation for people to come and steal. It will encourage not only the persistent offenders but also all those would-be offenders who would steal but are afraid of getting caught and sent to jail."

Ms Perretta said she backed schemes such as Brighton and Hove Drug and Alcohol Action Team's shoplifting project, which offered drug treatment and support to the city's top 20 most prolific offenders and resulted in a 45 per cent drop in their offending rates.

But she said prison sentences were still needed as a deterrent.

Grant Phillips, manager of the One 40 Five clothes shop in Sydney Street, Brighton, said thieves were already being treated too softly.

He said: "We've had shoplifters who we've caught and the next day we've seen them back out on the streets so I'm not really sure these new proposals will make a difference.

"Catching shoplifters never seems to have been a priority for the police. We had one instance when a guy came in and ripped clothes trying to get the security tags off and the police didn't turn up for five hours.

"I think it will encourage people to take the law into their own hands if they don't think shoplifters will be properly dealt with."

Tony Mernagh, executive director of Brighton City Centre Business Forum, believed the proposals were a response to overcrowding in Britain's prisons rather than a policy which reflected the views of retailers.

He said: "To suggest that shoplifters should only be jailed if they are violent is ludicrous. Most people who suffer from shoplifting find it intimidating. You don't have to hit someone to have an effect on their well-being.

"This will not go down at all well with retailers. You will have a situation where people do not bother to report incidents and crime will therefore escalate."

He said the impact of pilfering should not be underestimated. Each household pays an extra £1 on their shopping bill each week because of shoplifting.

He said: "Everybody pays the price because the cost is passed down to the customer. Shop-lifting is often carried out to feed drug habits and for some people it is a full-time job.

"If the law is saying persistent offenders won't go to jail then it downgrades the crime."