Police in West Yorkshire are launching a trial to prevent credit card fraud by demanding thumbprints.

Customers at a shopping centre in Wakefield will be asked for their prints before a credit card sale is completed.

The voluntary scheme at the Ridings shopping mall begins on Saturday and will spread to the rest of the county.

Police have long struggled to tackle debit, credit and cheque card fraud.

Annual cost

Criminals use stolen or cloned plastic bank cards to buy valuable goods which are retained or fenced later.

It is estimated that fraud of this sort costs shops and stores nearly �300m a year.

The pioneering scheme is aimed at providing a doublecheck on the identification of credit card shoppers in order to catch the crooks.

An inkpad will be kept by shop tills to allow customers to put a thumbprint on the receipt.

Pin schemes

If there is a query about the sale police will have a lead on identifying the potential fraudster.

In some European countries, it is common to be required to type in a pin when using credit cards.

Critics say the West Yorkshire measure betrays a Big Brother approach and may even breach human rights.

But West Yorkshire police say no database will be kept and that only fraudsters need worry.

Leaflets explaining the scheme will be distributed in the mall and in the weeks to come at all major shopping centres around the county.