New Independent Retail News figures suggest that small grocery stores are being repeatedly targeted by violent criminals, with up to 40 per cent of victims being attacked more than five times in the last year.

Knives, firearms, hypodermic needles and other weapons were used in over a quarter of attacks.

A spokesman for the Home Office told ePolitix.com: "Reducing crime is a top priority for this government and we are committed to seeing crime rates fall.

"We take a very serious view of all forms of retail crime which is why we have already established a range of measures to tackle the problem - including a £15 million scheme to improve the security of small retailers in deprived areas which 12,500 businesses will benefit from.

"We continue to support retail/business crime partnerships, which we helped establish, and several regional. We are also currently seeking to establish a pilot scheme where drug-abusing shoplifters excluded from shopping centres, are given access to drug treatment services.

"The recent Commercial Victimisation Survey figures showed that the level of violent crime against retailers was 3 per cent higher in the 2002 survey than it was when we carried out a similar survey ten years ago.

"Whilst this will no doubt disturb you, as much as it does me, it is worth pointing out that the survey also recorded that violence against manufacturers has remained the same and that levels of most other crimes against retailers and manufacturers are lower than when the last survey was carried out."

Oliver Letwin, shadow home secretary, said: "These are horrifying statistics that reveal the true extent of retail crime in this country.

"It is appalling that more than one in five retailers have been affected by violent crime in the past 12 months. Retail crime is not a victimless crime, as some people tend to think. Shopkeepers are human beings like the rest of us.

"The figures are a symptom of the government's failure to get young people off the conveyor belt to crime and to tackle seriously the problem of dependency on hard drugs."

Forum Response: British Retail Consortium

A spokesman for the British Retail Consortium told ePolitix.com: "The IRN figures echo the findings of our own annual retail crime survey.

"The BRC has also given its support to the USDAW Freedom from Fear campaign that featured so prominently in Bournemouth this week. We cannot ignore the growth in retail crime and in particular the use of violence against staff.

"Our studies show that stealing from shops funds drug abuse. To tackle this we need a long-term strategy of restorative justice that speeds up the legal process, so that addicts begin to receive help immediately and are not left on the streets to reoffend.

"Shops make every effort to provide a safe environment for their staff and customers, but they are fighting a rising tide without adequate government support. If the government fails to tackle retail crime, it fails to support our communities."