Shop staff suffering huge rise in attacks

Shop staff are subjected to unprecedented levels of physical violence, intimidation and foul-mouthed abuse.

Experts blame the yob culture for the rise in retail crime - and have highlighted the new phenomena of "refund rage", where customers turn violent over relatively minor disputes concerning a shop's returns policy or the length of a queue.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which published the report,

warns the trend is pushing up prices for innocent customers as shops invest millions of pounds in costly new security systems.

Its figures show:

Ironically, the increase in violence comes as the industry

makes huge strides in clamping down on shoplifting.

According to the BRC figures, losses last year fell around ?700 million from ?1.7 billion to ?1 billion.

Kevin Hawkins, director general of the BRC, said: "The emotional impact of violence towards staff has shown a worrying rise. Retail crime is not victimless.

"Reducing these figures and the terrible unseen cost of this type of crime is a priority for the industry."

The BRC has had reports of "refund rage" where customers become violent over relatively minor flashpoints, such as the length of queues.

According to the survey, "such simple issues are often exacerbated due to a more demanding and less tolerant public".

Shopkeepers are particularly likely to be attacked if they attempt to prevent a theft or retain a suspect credit card.

Even charity shops are no longer immune, the survey reveals. Lesley Hutton, retail head at the St Barnabas Hospice charity shop chain, said: "In the past charity shops were afforded some protection by the nature of the work they do, but this no longer applies.

"We are seen as a soft touch and targeted daily by thieves."