The cost of crime towards C -stores increases by 29% to 316 million pounds, ACS finds

COST crime against convenience Retail traders increased by 29% to 316 million pounds in the last year, according to the association of convenient stores.

ACS 2025 crime report, published today, said the cost of crime, including theft, vandalism, robbery fraudIt was 6,259 pounds on the store.

Retail traders have registered 6.2 million stores incidents, increasing compared to 5.6 million previous year.

Also, the robbery registered an increased increase in the sector, the number of cases jumping 50.8% to 9,200. Almost 60% of retailers believed that incidents involving organized crime increased.

However, violent documents against store workers decreased by 22% to 59,000 incidents in the last year, while the rate of verbal abuse has been unchanged to 1.2 million cases.

The sector has also spent £ 265 million for crime prevention and detection measures in the last year, with measures, including the use of CCTV, rooms worn by Perspex at Tills.

Amitambekar, who drives a Niche Local in FenSton, Cambridgeshire, said he was attacked and wounded when he tried to challenge a thief and had to do with violent threats for months.

“When your staff is threatened with a hammer, when someone threatens to kill you, who lives near your store and the police don’t take it seriously, what is it?” he said.

Spar Retailer Ian Lewis, based in Minster Lovell, Oxfordshire, said that his store has been target two stay attacks in recent months. “My business was a remaining criminals in a Land Rover and the cash machine was torn,” he said. “My parents live above the store. I will never forget the voicemail I received from my parents when this happened. “

The ACS report comes under the conditions in which the Parliament considers the draft law on crime and police at the second reading stage (March 10). The draft law aims to introduce a separate crime for the aggression of a shopping worker, to eliminate the 200 pounds for theft offenses and to increase the police powers to cope with antisocial behavior, among other measures to deal with prolific criminals more efficiently.

ACS has supported the draft law on crime and police as a long -term turning point in combating retail crime and asks the police to cope with the problem a priority this year.

The ACS CEO, James Lowman, said: “The levels of theft, abuse and violence experienced by retailers in the last year do for a shocking reading, but will not surprise our members who live it daily.

“Offenders targeting local stores, without fear of reproach cannot be left to continue, which is why we fully support fully governmentThe draft law on crime and police.

“In our report on crime, we have established ways in which the retailers and police have made a positive difference, implementing strategies working to keep their retailers and their colleagues safer and we need a stronger legislation to support this.

“This must be the moment when we are committed to concluding the crime crime crisis, through the government, police and traders working together.”