BUSINESSES in Cheshire are to pioneer a new campaign to stamp out credit card fraud.

Shoppers who pay by cheque, credit or debit cards will be asked to put their thumb-print on the back of a till receipt.

If the transaction turns out to be fraudulent, the receipt will be handed over to police to give them a head-start in hunting down the thief.

If follows successful trials of the scheme in South Wales, where traders have reported an 87pc reduction in cases of credit card and cheque fraud.

Crime reduction officer Linda Harper said: "As they buy the goods, the customers are asked to put their thumb on a small pad which contains a special oil.

"They leave the thumb-print on the credit card slip or the cheque.

"The oil is almost invisible and wipes off the skin easily."

Around 1,000 of the thumb-print kits are being handed out initially to businesses in the Macclesfield area as part of an initial public awareness programme.

The kits last for around 1,000 thumb-prints and once expired cost just £4 to replace. Police hope the Macclesfield project will catch-on and spread quickly among businesses in Chester and Warrington where a second trial is to take place.

Ms Harper added: "Credit card fraud is a serious issue for traders.

"All too often it threatens the existence of small shops.

"The advantage to the traders is that this is another tier of security.

"Just one fraudulent transaction can cost them thousands of pounds - but that can be eliminated by a small kit which costs £4.

"Some criminals make a career out of this kind of fraud so they are quite likely to have a police record.

"Having the thumb-print will give us a head start in tracking them down."

Civil liberties groups have raised concerns about the programme and what could be done with the finger-prints if they got into the wrong hands.

But police say the prints will only be analysed or stored when a transaction is found to be fraudulent.

Shoppers can choose not to provide a thumbprint, but some stores may refuse to serve them.

Mike Wilson, manager of Macclesfield Army and Navy stores, which has agreed to take part in the scheme, said: "I certainly hope this will be a useful step in tackling the problem of fraud.

"We hope it will catch on with other traders because something like this has to be across the board, there's no use one or two shops taking part, because the thieves will know where else they can go.

"Most of our customers recognise what we are trying to achieve, but others have suggested it infringes their human rights.

"I think when the system becomes more widespread and people realise there is no underhand motive, it will become part of every shopping trip."