Shops, CCTV operators, police units and security officers will pool information on "targets" and track them as they move from store to store.

Files on the most prolific thieves will be sent to each member shop to help foil the criminal.

And in an extra get-tough measure, thieves caught more than once could be banned for a year from member shops under a "two strikes and you're out" rule.

Truancy patrols will continue to patrol the shopping zone to catch out potential young criminals who should be in school.

The steering group of Croydon Against Shop Theft (CAST) is gearing up to launch the campaign from June 1. Steering group member, David Lashmar of Beano's Ltd, said: "The criminal element must be told that Croydon is a bad town to visit."

Andy Brooks of Marks and Spencer said: "We hope this will be a spring board to making Croydon a better place to shop and visit."

Under the new CAST scheme, dossiers on "targets" will be kept at the control room of the Drummond Shopping Centre where CCTV operators with 282 cameras at their disposal can access them and warn CAST members of the target's movements. Stores will in turn keep files up-to-date by logging information on retail criminals. Large retailers have already signed up to CAST. The steering group hopes every independent shop and retail chain in the centre will follow suit. Police superintendent Peter Gibbons said Croydon's police force would help.

He put 40 officers and 10 police sergeants in the centre last Tuesday.

"We are looking to send a message to the criminal fraternity: if you come to the centre and try to commit crime you will be arrested and dealt with through the courts," he said.

David Leigh from the Home Office said 250 other centres around the country had seen a dramatic fall in crime after starting similar schemes.