Gloucestershire shop worker calls for better protection from abuse as new law comes into force in Scotland
The new law up north makes it a criminal offence to assault, abuse or threaten retail staff
Shop workers across England and Wales are calling for a new law being introduced in Scotland today, to be extended.
The law makes it a specific offence to assault, abuse or threaten retail staff and comes as 92 percent of shop workers across the UK say they've been verbally abused during the pandemic.
Seventy percent say they have been threatened, while 14 percent have been physically assaulted.
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) says the real numbers are likely to be even higher as one in five victims say they have not reported such incidents to their employer.
We've spoken to Mervyn Sterry who works at a shop in Gloucestershire.
"I'd say during Covid and with the mask wearing and social distancing it became worse. And you don't look forward to a Friday and Saturday night at work to be honest," he says.
"We're all retail workers and we're all receiving the abuse we get so it's pretty disappointing that the government haven't extended it to everywhere in the UK."
"I've been spat at and verbally abused"
Mervyn says shoplifters are also difficult to be with and often become aggressive if he or another member of staff tries to stop them.
"I've been spat at before and verbally abused. They become aggressive but they just don't care", he continues.
"I don't think the law will get rid of it completely but I certainly think it will make people think twice about what they're doing.
"And if there are more people whoa re thinking twice then it would bring down the number of incidents we experience and means we'd be able to not be so fearful on certain nights of the week".