OPTICIANS and police have joined forces to fight the theft of expensive frames.

Thieves pretending to be trying on glasses on display shelves in Brighton shops are switching designer frames for cheap imitations and selling the stolen ones later in pubs and at boot sales.

Buyers are then asking opticians to have prescription lenses fitted into the stolen frames.

But some opticians are now refusing to fit lenses unless the customer produces proof they have bought the frames legitimately, or the frames already contain lenses.

Brighton PC Matt Ebeling is encouraging all opticians to adopt the policy and has persuaded the General Optical Council to support the campaign.

He said: "With some costing £150 or more, stealing frames has become big business."

Thefts, he said, increased in the summer with a boom in the sunglasses market.

One Brighton optician joining the campaign is Batemans in North Street.

Manager Debbie Addison said: "Most frames are branded nowadays, like Gucci and Armani, and are very desirable.

"We are now asking customers for some kind of proof of purchase. If all opticians join in we can stop the black market trade."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.