TESCO has been urged by a reader to hire security at their checkouts after the company recorded a 52 per cent rise in assaults on staff at their Cumbrian supermarkets.

There were 73 attacks on Tesco staff in 2020/21, up from 48 in the previous year, which has now prompted calls for safer stores.

Diablo Rosso said: “Employ proper security staff at the checkouts to deal with these scum.

“There are plenty of door staff not earning while the nightclubs are shut.

“The supermarkets are making massive profits during lockdown so invest some of that and protect your workforce and customers.

“Tesco should close at 8pm or 9pm to stop the drunk yobs coming from the rugby ground wanting more beer and causing trouble.”

Barrow MP Simon Fell has condemned the rise in assaults and said that ‘no-one should go to work and be in fear of attack’.

With staff at Tesco implementing Covid restrictions, one reader has asked customers to follow them.

They said: “Perhaps you could actually just adhere to the rules or stay away? The staff are just trying to apply the rules to get you and me out of this mess ASAP.”

However, one reader believes some staff have treated customers poorly since the pandemic began.

They claimed: “They are acting like police and security-obsessed with Covid. The way some of them speak to the paying customer is horrible. If they are paranoid about going into work, stay at home.”

The supermarket’s figures for England and Wales show a 50 per cent increase in violent incidents year-on-year with 19,747 in 2020/21 up from 13,316 the previous year.

As of April, 5,203 violent incidents have been recorded.

Tesco has approximately 250,000 frontline colleagues, meaning one in every 12 has experienced a serious incident, which it defines as an incident involving a weapon, assault or a threat to colleagues.