People across Cumbria have attacked workers at Tesco supermarkets a staggering 73 times in the last 12 months.
Since April this year, 20 assaults have already been recorded.
It is estimated one in 12 of every Tesco worker in England and Wales has been subject to some sort of assault or attack.
The previous 12 months saw 48 attacks in Cumbria.
The figures were released to Barrow and Furness MP Simon Fell.
Mr Fell said: “There has been a worrying increase in assaults on our frontline workers who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to keep us fed.
“This 52 per cent increase is extremely concerning and I fear these figures will be similar in other stores.
“No one should go to work and be in fear of attack and we need to send out a clear message to anyone who attacks a worker that they will feel the full force of the law and their behaviour will not be tolerated.”
The Furness MP is part of Blue Collar Conservatives, a group of MPs in Westminster, wanting to give hard-working British voters a voice and to ensure Government policy reflects the needs of their families and communities
The group want Government to introduce a specific offence of assaulting a shop worker, as is the case for emergency workers.
The MPs believe it could act as a deterrent and send out the warning any assault will be taken seriously and a hefty sentence handed down by the courts for anyone guilty of the crime.
Tesco UK chief executive Jason Tarry said: “Every day our colleagues, along with hundreds of other retail workers, in every region of the UK face abuse, threats of violence and are even assaulted, simply for doing their jobs.
“This is not acceptable. Our stores should be safe places to work and shop.
“There is an opportunity to change the law that will increase the protection of shopworkers as they carry out their daily tasks and we welcome the support of Blue Collar MPs on this critical issue.”
Across England and Wales, the supermarket’s figures 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 staff, meaning one in every 12 workers experienced a serious incident, which it defines as an incident involving a weapon, assault or a threat.
Earlier this week, the supermarket giant met with the Blue Collar Conservatives to discuss attacks on staff in a bid to stamp out the behaviour.
Tesco told MPs it has spent £250 million on safety measures to help protect staff since the start of the pandemic.
