The Government has announced it will make assaulting retail workers a standalone criminal offence and introduce tougher punishments for people caught shoplifting.

The Home Office announced the forthcoming legislation today, revealing that people convicted of assaulting shop staff could go to prison for six months and receive an “unlimited fine” as well as being barred from visiting certain stores.

The Home Office also said repeat offenders will be “forced to wear tags to track their movements”.

In addition to introducing the new criminal offence, the Government plans to work with police to pilot “a bespoke package of sentencing measures which can be used by judges to tackle high levels of shoplifting” and to invest £55m in rolling out the use of facial recognition technology to catch shoplifters.

Home secretary James Cleverley said: “There is quite simply no excuse for threatening behaviour or stealing – which can run other people’s livelihoods into the ground, while being traumatic for workers.

“To turn a blind eye to retail crime shakes the foundations of law and order which protect our society and that is unacceptable. We are enhancing our plan and doubling down on the zero tolerance approach needed to fight back.

“The number of offenders being charged for these crimes is increasing and while I want to see more people face consequences for their actions, our plan is designed to help put a stop to these crimes happening in the first place.”

Crime and policing minister Chris Philp commented: “Sadly, if you speak to anyone working in retail, they will tell you of the verbal abuse and sometimes violent assaults they’ve been victims of, simply for trying to do their job.

“That’s why today we’re sending a clear message to criminals that enough is enough, bringing forward further measures to protect retail workers and crack down on those who continuously disregard the law.”

British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson welcomed the announcement, saying: “After relentless campaigning for a specific offence for assaulting retail workers, the voices of the three million people working in retail are finally being heard.”