Police have a new weapon in their armoury

Officers in Bath plan to unveil the SmartWater project, using a chemical-marking process, which will indelibly identify any item of property.

The chemical does not wash off and cannot be removed, which will enable later identification using ultra-violet light.

If the stolen item is recovered, officers can be certain of its rightful owner.

A spokesman for Staffordshire-based SmartWater said: "We wanted to increase the pressure on the thief by first developing, then actively using a simple system of identification which the criminal could not defeat - hence SmartWater Instant.

'New process'

"Instant provides valuable property with an unprecedented degree of identification, so powerful it has been likened to DNA profiling.

"Like DNA, the slightest speck will identify the owner who has suffered the theft."

The process has been trialled in parts of Bristol and is to be introduced in Bath shortly.

Bath crime reduction officer PC Chas Cannon said: "We are hoping to encourage as many people as possible to take on this new process, especially those city centre shops which have been targeted by thieves in the past.

"We also hope to be able to promote the new product through neighbourhood watch schemes."