An activist group has claimed responsibility for a coordinated “mass shoplifting campaign” across several UK cities.

Members said that they “liberated boxes of food” from supermarkets to supply local food banks.

Take Back Power, which identifies as a non-violent civil resistance group, said its supporters in London, Manchester, Exeter, and Truro “took back food and necessities from supermarkets and redistributed them to local food banks” on Saturday.

The group defended its actions, saying that “what’s legal isn’t necessarily an indication of what’s moral or right”, and that it was “necessary for ordinary people to be stepping into action given the scale of crisis our country faces”.

Activists reportedly entered stores, filling boxes emblazoned with the message “these things are going to those that need them”.

They then “left the shops without paying for the produce and then redistributed these items to local food bank drop-off points”, the group added.

The Metropolitan Police said no arrests had been made in London as officers were told by shop staff that a “member of the group subsequently paid for the items”.

Take Back Power denied paying for the items, but said that activists had “set up a stall that was technically still on the property of the supermarket” meaning “no crime was committed, because none of the produce actually ended up leaving the site”.

A spokesperson for Take Back Power said: “What’s legal isn’t necessarily an indication of what’s moral or right.

“I accept that going into shops and taking things without paying is against the law.

“But I really do think that we need to be looking at what is more of a problem in society is the fact that we’ve got a significant number of people having to go to food banks.”

The spokesperson added: “This won’t be the last of this sort of action.

“I think it’s necessary for ordinary people to be stepping into action given the scale of crisis our country faces.”

Take Back Power said in London that “on liberating boxes of food, two supporters set up a stall outside Sainsbury’s in the Lewisham centre, to give the food back to the local community”.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Officers responded and spoke to staff at the shop who told them a member of the group subsequently paid for the items.

“We are in the process of reviewing CCTV and other evidence to verify this.”

In Exeter, Take Back Power said five supporters who took five boxes of produce from Morrisons supermarket in Prince Charles Road were stopped by security who took away two of five boxes.

The group said the remaining three boxes were “successfully liberated and taken to a local food bank drop-off point”.

In Manchester, the group said “three action takers filled boxes with food from Tesco, on Parrs Wood Lane in Didsbury” and then “redistributed the food to a food bank drop-off point at a local Aldi”.

It added that two supporters loaded boxes from the Sainsbury’s on Treyew Road, Truro, and left the produce at the food bank drop-off point in the same store.

It comes after 15 activists from the group were arrested earlier this month on suspicion of planning a mass shoplifting campaign.

Activists gathered at the Quaker Meeting House in Westminster on 5 March to take part in “non-violent direct action training”, the Metropolitan Police said.

Officers halted the meeting and 15 people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit theft.

Greater Manchester Police and Devon and Cornwall Police have been approached for comment.

Take Back Power has claimed it was behind a stunt which saw apple crumble and custard thrown at a display case containing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London in December.

Days before that, activists from the group targeted the Ritz Hotel by emptying bags of manure next to its Christmas tree.

The group has called for a citizen-led assembly that has the power to tax the rich.