A supermarket boss has issued a warning over a rise in a "worrying" new trend.
Tuesday's edition of ITV news programme Good Morning Britain was hosted by Ed Balls and Susanna Reid.
They interviewed Iceland's managing director, Richard Walker, on the problems cropping up over the mounting cost of living crisis.
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Mr Walker said soaring food costs have sparked a rise in shoplifting and aggressive incidents across Iceland stores, the Liverpool Echo reports.
He added: "I get the serious incident reports every week of aggressive behaviour that goes on in our stores and unfortunately it is going up because people are struggling.
Susanna was taken aback by the worrying rise and quizzed Mr Walker on how supermarket staff deal with shoplifters.
He explained: "We're not the police and we do have security guards in some stores, but they will give a written warning or ban the customer from the story if they get aggressive."
Iceland has launched a series of initiatives to help ease the cost of living crisis for shoppers.
The supermarket chain reduced the threshold for free delivery and has frozen the price of hundreds of £1 value lines in the UK.
In Ireland, Iceland has free home delivery when you spend 30, boasts hundreds of Irish products and has a 10% off for students offer when you sign up for a bonus card.
Viewers following the show on Twitter praised the supermarket chain for taking action to help shoppers.
@bestchester276 said: "I really like the boss of Iceland and he isn’t afraid to come and answer questions."
Jasmine commented: "I like the boss of iceland...atleast he's trying.."
David added: "Very impressed by the boss of Iceland".
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