Staff working at petrol stations have been subject to a shocking 110% increase in abuse from customers amid rising fuel prices, and inflamatory comments from politicians about forecourt operators.
The analysis comes from security firm Vars Technology, whose kit is installed at over 1,500 filling stations the UK. The company reports that incidents of aggressive and antisocial behaviour from customers towards staff have more than doubled since the conflict began, while deliberate damage to shop fittings and stock is up 200%.
Vars looked at data from forecourts fitted with its facial-recognition systems, comparing figures from the last two weeks of February against the first two weeks of March. The firm found abuse and antisocial behaviour towards staff increased by 110%, and damage to shops rose threefold, over the period. No comparable increases were seen at the non-fuel retail outlets fitted with Vars’ systems.
Staff working at forecourts in Bristol, Newcastle and Leeds were subject to the biggest increases in abusive customers, with Vars detecting a 150% rise in such behaviour at those locations.
The Iranian conflict that began on 28 February has seen the average cost of a litre of unleaded rise by 18.2%, and diesel by 33% according to the RAC. Simultaneously, countless political figures, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister, have made statements or circulated messages that retailers are ‘price gouging’ customers and profiteering, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.
John Garnett, a director with the firm, commented: “The rise in fuel prices has had a far bigger impact on the way people treat forecourt staff than it has on levels of fuel theft, which has only risen a small percentage on the sites we work with.
“Anyone working in the industry understands that forecourt operators aren’t profiteering or price gouging and instead are doing their best to minimise price rises for customers. However, that message isn’t coming through from Government, and these figures clearly show the impact this is having on forecourt workers just trying to do their job.”
