RETAIL workers and employers came together today to work on tackling growing violence, threats and abuse against shop staff.

Retail union Usdaw launched its annual Respect for Shopworkers Week by hosting a summit in London involving retailers and employers’ organisations.

New figures from an Usdaw survey showed worsening problems in the last 12 months, including 71 per cent of shop staff receiving verbal abuse, 48 per cent being threatened by a customer and 5 per cent suffering assault.

Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis said: “The aim of this project is to bring the industry together and work collaboratively to tackle violence and abuse. 

“But this is not a concern that can be resolved by the retail industry alone. 

“If we are to truly tackle these issues, we must continue to engage with politicians and the police, to press for action on retail crime prevention, detection and access to justice.”

British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “No-one should go to work fearing for their safety, yet once again we are being presented with another shocking set of data that illustrates the scale of the problem.”