Traders in Oxford have reacted with outrage at proposals not to jail serial shoplifters, in a move that has been described as making thieves "untouchable".

Sticky-fingered criminals should not be imprisoned unless they commit an aggravated offence, the Government's Sentencing Advisory Panel (SAP) said.

Aggravating factors could include using violence, high-value thefts, operating in gangs, premeditated thefts, 'professional' shoplifting, using children to shoplift or targeting vulnerable victims.

According to Thames Valley Police figures, 979 people were arrested for shoplifting between between April 2005 and March 2006.

Between April and July this year, 323 were arrested.

A spokesman for HMV in Cornmarket Street, Oxford, said: "This is making criminals feel untouchable.

"This is going to act as a green light for criminals to think they can go out and carry out crimes with a degree of impunity."

British Retail Consortium spokesman Richard Dodd said: "It's like offering a licence to people to go into stores and take things without paying."

A report by the SAP, which recommends sentencing changes to the Sentencing Guidelines Council, suggests shoplifters could be jailed for up to eight weeks, if they were "seriously persistent". It recognised the first 'no jail' option was a radical departure from present practise but said that a "high-level community order" would be a better punishment.

But retailers in Oxford claim the proposals send out the wrong message to criminals and will simply increase crime rates.

Anne-Marie Boles, of the Early Learning Centre, in Queen Street, said: "I don't think it's a good idea, as shoplifters will never learn their lesson."

An employee at the Bonnie clothes shop, in Broad Street, labelled the proposals "appalling", and added: "It is bound to have a detrimental effect as gangs of people who steal regularly will just carry on."

Abdul Dhafoor, of Wendy News, in Broad Street, said shoplifting had reduced since security cameras were introduced. He said: "The new proposals will make it worse, because they won't be scared of anything."

City centre manager Bill McCardle said many shoplifters were drug addicts who needed treatment, not a jail sentence. But he added: "If it sends out the message that it's okay to shoplift, that will be detrimental and a serious setback for traders."