Lincolnshire shop workers demand action against abuse
We can reveal around 400 are abused ever single day nationwide
Shop workers across Lincolnshire are demanding action as we can reveal around 400 are abused ever single day nationwide.
The 2021 Crime Report from the Association of Convenience Stores says over 1.2 million acts of verbal abuse took place last year.
40,000 violent incidents were also reported, with a quarter involving weapons such as knives, hammers, axes or syringes.
65% of shops have also experienced Covid-related threats.
Rachel works in Bourne and has seen colleagues coughed and spat at.
"It makes me angry to think that we’re here doing a job, we’ve been here all the way through this pandemic and at the end of the day if our colleagues didn’t come into work, you wouldn’t have a shop to be able to shop in.
"It’s very upsetting. It can cause a colleague to go off with stress. It can cause a colleague to have anxiety, go into depression.
"The long-term impact of somebody coming in and verbally being abusive to a colleague is greater than the incident impact itself."
It comes as the UK’s biggest retailers, the Home Office and independent charity Crimestoppers launch a new campaign urging people to ShopKind.