CONVENIENCE stores pay a “crime tax” of around 7p per transaction, according to a new report into the impact of crime.

The national report from the Association of Convenience Stories (ACS) estimates that theft, robbery and fraud committed against local retailers last year cost the sector £193 million – the equivalent of a 7p crime tax for every transaction that takes place.

The report was released the day after another three stores in the Bradford area were badly damaged in cash machine raids.

West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson said police were working with shopkeepers, and that such crimes caused “extensive damage and misery”.

The ACS data says there were more than 950,000 thefts from convenience stores in the UK in 2017. That number is up from 2016, when the figure was around 575,000. The report also shows that challenging shop thieves is the most common trigger for violence and verbal abuse.

The number of incidents of violence faced by staff working in the sector was 13,437. Of those, 3,690 incidents involved a weapon.

The perceived motivations for shop theft identified in the report include opportunism (36 per cent), alcohol or drug addiction (32 per cent) and organised crime (22 per cent). A total of 2,800 burglaries were reported, with a cost to the sector of £20m. There were 9,300 incidents of robbery costing the industry £20m and ram raids – robberies in which an ATM is rammed with a vehicle and looted – cost the sector £8m.

In the past week there have been ram raids on the Your Local store in Saffron Drive, Allerton, on Tuesday, March 13, and at shops in Thornton Road, Fairweather Green and Otley Road, Undercliffe, early on Sunday morning – which have been linked by police – and at a McColl’s in Bradford Road, Pudsey.

Val Summerscales, of Bradford Chamber of Trade, said: “I think in the last few weeks in particular there has been an increase in crimes like this. It is very worrying, and can have a particularly big impact on smaller businesses. We’ve heard recently of businesses calling meetings with police about crime in areas like Wyke – the fact that meetings like this are being requested shows how concerned businesses are.

“In a lot of these smaller businesses there are staff that work on their own, especially in evenings, and that makes them particularly vulnerable. If staff are threatened in a robbery it may well lead to them asking if they still want to do the job.

“As well as increasing reports of incidents, there is a worrying escalation of the types of incidents.”

Mr Burns-Williamson said: “Thriving businesses are key to healthy communities and if we are to create jobs and improve people’s lives here in West Yorkshire we need local businesses to do well in safe environments. Working with partners to ensure that crime prevention is at the forefront of all our efforts is essential, as is educating businesses on how to prevent crime from happening in the first place.

“I am aware of the incidents involving ATMs in Bradford over the weekend and am in contact with the Chief Constable to get updates on what is being done locally, with partners, to ensure communities are reassured and that businesses are supported.

“These crimes affect community confidence and affect hard working businesses causing extensive damage and misery.”