VIOLENCE and abuse targeting shopworkers has shot up by 28 per cent in a year, a report revealed yesterday.

The increase, based on figures from 2015, which are the most recent available, was uncovered by a British Retail Consortium survey, prompting a call from the leader of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw for action to protect its members.

Results from Usdaw’s own annual survey shows that half of all shopworkers were verbally abused in the last year, with more than one in 10 facing such treatment on a weekly or daily basis.