Nearly a quarter of Britons have witnessed shoplifting in the past year and seen physical or verbal abuse of shop workers as criminals become “bolder and more aggressive”.

A survey carried out for the British Retail Consortium (BRC) by the market research firm Opinium found Nottingham to be a UK hotspot for retail crime where 32% of residents said they had witnessed shoplifting. London was close behind on 29%.

Southampton, Leeds and Manchester were all above the national average, while Liverpool, Brighton and Sheffield witnessed less shop theft than other major cities during the year.

On average, 24% of respondents had witnessed shoplifting and 23% had witnessed the physical or verbal abuse of shop workers.

The figures emerged after retailers said crime in their stores was “spiralling out of control” with 55,000 thefts a day and violent and abusive incidents rising by 50% last year. More than 70 incidents a day involved a weapon, according to the BRC’s annual crime survey, which was published in January.

Verbal and physical attacks, violent threats and sexual and racial abuse in shops soared to more than 2,000 incidents a day in the year to the end of last August, up from 1,300 the previous year and more than three times the 2020 level.

A separate survey by Usdaw, the shopworkers’ union, found that 77% of retail staff had experienced abuse, 53% threats and 10% assault.

The BRC’s chief executive, Helen Dickinson, said: “Seeing incidents of theft or abuse has become an all-too-common part of the shopping experience for many people.

“While an incident can be over in a matter of seconds, it can have lifelong consequences on those who experience it, making them think twice about visiting their local high streets. Criminals are becoming bolder and more aggressive, and decisive action is needed to put an end to it.”

The rise in shoplifting is partly seen as the result of a squeeze on household finances fuelled by high inflation in recent years, but retailers say it is also related to organised gangs stealing to order. They claim that the retail sector has been seen as a soft target since a 2014 law change in England and Wales meant that those stealing goods worth less than £200 are usually spared any prison terms or face a maximum six-month custodial sentence.

Big retailers have also been accused of contributing to the rise in crime by reducing staff numbers in stores to keep costs down. They are also using more self-service checkouts and self-scanning devices, which are open to abuse.

The BRC, however, says retailers spent a further £1.8bn on crime prevention measures such as CCTV, more security personnel, anti-theft devices and body-worn cameras last year.

The government has set out legislation to help tackle shoplifting, including removing the £200 threshold for “low level” theft. The crime and policing bill, which is working its way through parliament, will also introduce a stand-alone offence of assaulting a retail worker and promises funds to tackle organised gangs involved in shop theft.

The BRC wants the law to be extended to protect delivery drivers in line with the Workers Protection Act in Scotland.