Almost HALF of shop workers threaten to quit over surge in abuse of staff

In addition to this, 42 per cent are considering quitting their job or the retail sector all together. Now, charities have called on an end to this behaviour.

Chief of the Retail Trust charity Chris Brook-Carter said: "Every day we’re hearing from people who have been shouted at, spat on, threatened or hit at work, sometimes several times a week.

“One person told us they were hit around the head by a shoplifter with a metal basket, another was knocked out cold by an angry customer, and this is on top of the vile insults and threats.

"As a country, we must get better at bringing an end to this terrible behaviour."

The survey, which spoke to 1,600 people in the retail industry, found that 64 per cent said confronting a shoplifter had caused the abuse, with 25 per cent admitting they do not report abuse.

The charity has now launched its Respect Retail campaign ahead of the busy Christmas period.

One of those retail workers who has faced abuse is store manager Moses Orogun. The 42 year old quit a supermarket for a department store as it has more security guards.

He said: “It was a decision I made while waiting for stitches in my forehead after a banned shoplifter attacked me.”

Another who has experienced abuse is Julie, 61. The shop manager said she has never seen it as bad with teenagers causing a lot of the issues, often multiple times a day.

She said: “In town, there are groups of between eight and 14 teens who come in every day and cause havoc.

"I was threatened by a guy five months ago who said, ‘I will flob down your throat then kill you’.

"That was because he was trying to return an item he had stolen 15 minutes previously for cash. We have incidents like this two to five times every day.”

Retail workers’ union Usdaw’s Respect for Shop Workers Week, starts today.

The Mirror has estimated shoplifiting has cost £953million in the past year.