1,300 retail staff attacked every day

SHOPLIFTERS doubled their haul last year, stealing a record £1.8billion-worth of goods as violence against retail workers spiked.

- Robert Kellaway

Physical and verbal soared to 1,300 per day - up from 870 the year before attacks The British Retail Consortium, which published the figures, said action by ministers had been "woefully inadequate" in dealing with the crisis.

The trade group's annual survey found that 8,800 incidents against workers had resulted in injury in year to the September. ranged from racial abuse and sexual harassment to physical assault and threats with weapons.

The total remains significantly higher than before the pandemic.

During the Covid crisis, the number of incidents tripled, with customers taking out their frustrations over safety measures on shop staff.