Cost of Living: Tesco using security barriers to keep reduction-bay staff safe

Tesco workers are using security barriers to protect themselves from shoppers waiting to snatch reduced yellow sticker items from their hands before they hit the shelves as the UK's cost-of-living crisis deepens.

Photos show workers barricaded behind yellow barriers with 'do not enter' signs while tagging items with their reduced price. 

Tesco is not the only supermarket putting up barriers to protect colleagues - with some Morrison's stores adopting the same technique. 

A Morrison's spokesperson said: 'The barriers were used during Covid to help protect our colleagues' health and some stores have continued to use them since then.' 

The barriers in Tesco are optional and used at a store's discretion to make sure staff have enough space to work as they apply discounts. 

Similar barriers have been used in the supermarket on several occasions over the last few years, but most recently amid one of the worst cost of living crises in decades which has seen soaring prices for food, petrol, energy bills, rent and mortgages.

Helen Dickinson of the British Retail Consortium said: 'We have seen violence and abuse against shop workers go up during the pandemic but instead of it alleviating since then, it's getting worse.' 

The extraordinary rise in the cost of living in Britain was laid bare last month in inflation figures that reveal the price of staples such as milk, butter, cheese, meat and bread increased by up to 42 per cent in the previous month - the highest rates since 1980.

Millions are now routinely paying 20p more for two pints of milk, 30p more for a packet of pasta, 30p more for six free range eggs and 40p more for a block of mature cheddar than they did 12 months ago.

The official inflation figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there is not a single type of food or drink that has not gone up in price in September as energy bills also soar.