Citing a continued rise in retail crime, the Trust said 90% of retail workers have faced abuse at work, with 84% shouted at, a third threatened with violence, 14% physically assaulted and 10% spat on, “leaving [47%] feeling unsafe at work, although 25% don’t report abuse.Staff from over 200 retailers, including H&M, John Lewis and Tesco, have spoken out against “the shocking wave of assaults and theft that is making them feel unsafe, anxious and likely to quit the industry”.

The new research by the charity for UK retail workers revealed attacks on shop staff are worsening amid rising levels of in-store crime. Its survey of more than 1,600 retail workers also found that 64% said confronting a shoplifter had caused the abuse and think incidents have increased in the last two years. Some 56% thought the rising cost-of-living was to blame for shoppers taking out their frustrations on them.Another two thirds (67%) want stricter penalties for customers who abuse shop workers and 33% believe the police should be taking more action. Also, 66% said incidents had left them feeling stressed or anxious about going into work and 42% are considering quitting their jobs or leaving retail.Meanwhile, 22% of shoppers said they’ve felt scared or intimidated in a shop due to the behaviour of others, but 53% said they would speak up on behalf of a retail worker or confront the perpetrator if they witnessed abusive behaviour.Chris Brook Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, said: “Thousands of shop workers are contacting us to say they now fear for their safety, and this is simply unacceptable. As a country and a society, we must get better at bringing an end to this terrible behaviour, making sure every incident is recorded and acted upon, and above all, ensuring that our colleagues across the country get the protection and support they need.”Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, added:  “We need the government to introduce a standalone offence to send a clear message that this behaviour will not be tolerated, and to help police allocate appropriate resource to challenge and deter potential offenders. And we need the police to prioritise investigating these offences. We also call on customers to show colleagues the respect they deserve when doing their jobs. We must all work together to stamp out this scourge of crime.”