Police say the scheme does not infringe human rights

Customers in nine shops in Banbury, Oxfordshire, will now be asked to press their thumbs on to a gel inkpad and then on to the back of their cheque or credit card transaction slip.

The Thames Valley Police scheme had already been trialled in the town in 2002 and in Bracknell, Berkshire, earlier this year.

The force has moved to head off possible criticism of the scheme.

'No database'

A spokesman said: "The taken fingerprints will only be used as evidence in the case of suspected fraudulent use, where police can then run the print through their systems to evaluate whether it matches a crime suspect providing rapid identification if their details are held.

"There is not, and never will be, a database of customer fingerprints and, as the scheme is voluntary, there are no implications on the Human Rights Act."

Sergeant Justin Fletcher, who said credit card fraud was a growing problem in the town, added: "(Last year) we also experienced a number of incidents where would-be offenders reached the tills, obviously saw the Thumbprint scheme was in operation and dropped their stolen credit cards before running out of the store."

The scheme, which will be officially launched in Banbury on Monday, 15 September, was first used in America in 1988.