It's that Black Friday traumatised feeling

CAMPAIGN TO BRING BACK HUMANITY TO HIGH STREET

- ROS WYNNE-JONES AND MARYAM QAISER

"BLACK Friday to Christmas is the time of year I honestly dread," says Melissa, who works at a well-known high street store.

"What happened last year still haunts me. A man picked up a reduced item priced wrongly. I explained it must have been labelled incorrectly, or even switched by another shopper. I was calm, polite, just doing my job.

"Then, out of nowhere, he completely lost it. Within seconds his voice went from raised to full-blown shouting. He was calling us criminals, demanding my name, filming me on his phone and dialling 999 to 'report a crime'. I remember thinking, 'how did it get here so fast?'

Today, Black Friday, the Retail Trust is calling on shoppers to remember their humanity as they battle for bargains in cash-strapped times.

As the rush for Christmas deals begins, the charity for retail workers is calling on shoppers to remember the season of goodwill, starting with simple gestures of respect like a hello, thank you or a smile.

The charity's YouGov poll of 2,000 UK adults found nearly a quarter (24%) have forgotten to make eye contact or smile at a shop worker, and 20% have forgotten to say hello or thank you.

A further 71% of shoppers admitted to "getting annoyed" with a shop worker, delivery driver or someone working in customer services.

Of these, 13% said they had raised their voice or lost their temper.

Earlier this month, research from the trust found 77% of shop staff have experienced intimidating behaviour in the last year and a quarter (23%) were physically assaulted. Close to half (43%) said they are being abused or attacked every week.

From today, for Black Friday, a thousand faces will light up big screens across the UK as part of a positive campaign to confront abuse facing retail workers.