Abuse now a regular reality for retail staff

MORE than three-quarters of shop staff have suffered threatening behaviour from customers in the past year, and almost a quarter have been physically assaulted, a survey has found.

- PAUL JEEVES Crime Editor

Close to half say they are being abused or attacked every week - a rise of 10% on last year, when 33% told the Retail Trust charity they were experiencing weekly verbal or physical assaults.

Of these, 45% believed the level of abuse is getting worse and that they feel unsafe at work, with 43% looking to quit the industry.

The findings are backed up by a separate YouGov poll for the Retail Trust which discovered a third of people have witnessed someone being rude or abusive towards a shop worker in the past year. As previously revealed by the Express's Stop The Shoplifters campaign, there is also a trend of online pranksters filming shop workers' reactions as they abuse or steal from them. The survey found a third of all staff have either been filmed or had a colleague filmed without their consent.