Supermarket staff are facing "physical and verbal" abuse from shoppers who aren't following face covering guidance, the boss of Co-op Food has said.
Demands to encourage mask-wearing and maintain social distancing rules have triggered a major spike in "abuse, threats and violence", with one employee attacked and left with broken ribs.
Retail boss, Jo Whitfield, said there have been thousands of incidents every week since the start of the pandemic last March.
In the past year, The Co-op has recorded a 140% surge in criminal activity, with more than 200,000 cases including those that are violent, non-violent or involve shoplifting, figures show.
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