Tesco is to begin offering staff bodycams in a bid to mitigate abuse of its staff.

According to Tesco, physical attacks on its staff have risen by a third compared with last year’s levels.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy said that over the last few years, its staff have been made to feel “less safe by the actions of some customers who will be verbally and physically abusive, or who will threaten and attack them when challenged”.

Murphy added that Tesco has invested £44 million across four years on security measures, including the bodycams, along with other measures such as protection screens and digital radios.

"Money spent on making sure people are safe at work is always well spent," he said.

Murphy also mirrored recent comments made by John Lewis chair Sharon White in calling for stronger legal measures for offenders to match those in place in Scotland.

Under Scottish law, when a store worker is abused or attacked, there is a specific law in place to deter offenders.

Speaking on news programme Good Morning Britain last week, White said: “I think there is growing recognition over recent months that these aren’t trivial crimes. Having the Scottish legal framework replicated in the Westminster legislation would be a massive plus.”

The comments follow reports that John Lewis staff have been given “de-escalation training” to identify when an interaction with a shoplifter could become violent.

More than 100 retail bosses from UK retailers including John Lewis, Aldi, and Marks & Spencer also recently issued a letter to British police and crime commissioners calling on them to make retail crime a priority.

Murphy and White’s remarks follow similar comments from Co-op, which cautioned that spiralling rates of shoplifting could render some communities “no go” areas for shops.

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