Incidents of violence and abuse against shop workers 'doubles' during coronavirus pandemic
The number of reported incidents of violence, threats and abuse against shop workers have doubled during the coronavirus pandemic.
The union representing Welsh shop workers USDAW is calling for a law to protect them from violence and abuse.
It says across the UK shop workers have experienced violence and threats after asking customers to social distance and wear face masks.
In Wales, it is mandatory to wear a face mask or face covering while using public transport such as buses, trains and taxis.
Jane Jones works in a supermarket and told ITV Wales that both her and her colleagues have felt 'anxious' about going into work due to the regular abuse.
She told ITV Wales: "I've been verbally abused, name called, not personally threatened as such, but physically intimidated where customers purposely walked into my personal space, being in my face, all because I've asked them to stand in a particular place or social distance from customers and colleagues."It sort of became the norm that we were going to be physically or verbally abused at least on a regular basis daily. We were anxious going to work, we certainly didn't look forward to it, although we've turned up and obviously continued to do our jobs."People forget that we've got the same concerns as them. We're concerned about contracting the virus as well and taking it home to our families but because we're classed as essential workers we continue to go to work."