Iceland has rolled out plastic security boxes for frozen lamb legs to more than 550 of its 780 stores.

Theft of the cuts had got so bad the discounter “had to find an effective solution to reduce losses or take the product off the shelf entirely,” said head of loss prevention Ady Houghton at a retail fraud conference last week.

Profits from legs of lamb have since soared while losses have fallen dramatically, he said.

The boxes are made by B to B Links.