STAFF working at a Worcester supermarket are being harassed by underage youths who are looking to buy alcohol.

Three employees at Tesco in Warndon Villages have approached their county councillor asking for help to address the problem.

Now, one former member of staff has spoken to your Worcester News about how female cashiers are being approached and verbally abused by gangs of youths when they leave work following night shifts at the supermarket.

Often the youths have previously been turned away from the store when they attempted to buy drink. The female worker has called for Tesco to take action, before someone is seriously injured.

“Someone is going to get a knife pulled on them,” said the woman, who asked not to be named.

“Until someone is punched I do not think they are going to take action.”

A Tesco spokeman said the company took the safety of its staff and their concerns extremely seriously and there were always two night managers on duty and 10 members of staff on the shop floor. She said: “The line manager or security guard will be more than happy to walk anyone back to the car.

“They do not want anyone to feel unsupported.” The 44-year-old former member of staff started working at the Mill Wood Drive store in 2002.

She said she initially felt safe because she was one of a group of women who worked on the check-outs and looked out for each other. But as the staff gradually left and were not replaced, she was left with just one colleague.

She said: “When she used to go for breaks it was just me. We had no phone, no panic buttons, security would go on their break and we were vulnerable.”

A Tesco spokesman said fitting panic buttons was not an option.

The former staff member said although there are shelf stackers and a night manager, they were rarely in sight or within earshot.

“If you were lucky security was there we could call them over, but sometimes we had to shout to say can someone get a manager,” she said.

“It was awful. There was an older lady and she used to get really upset.”

The woman handed in her notice and left in October. In March last year, staff contacted Worcestershire county councillor John Buckley and raised concerns over their safety.

He wrote to the store manager, saying: “I would like to bring to your attention that three members of your staff who are required to administer the strict licensing laws by your company have found themselves under attack from certain young people and have approached me for help.”

Coun Buckley never received a response to the letter, but says he will be writing again.