The National Pharmacy Association's (NPA's) survey, of around 500 pharmacies, also found that 87% had seen an increase in aggressive and intimidating behaviour towards their teams in the past year, while 22% had even seen physical assaults on staff.

Of those that reported these criminal incidents to the police, 73% believed they received an insufficient response. 

Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, said: ‘Due to their accessible nature, pharmacy teams can often be more exposed to abuse and threats than their primary care colleagues.

‘Although pharmacies are taking their own steps to protect their staff and premises, the police should do much more to tackle crimes like shoplifting, which is becoming increasingly commonplace.'

He added: ‘We need to do more to tackle shoplifting as well as offering pharmacies similar support to other NHS colleagues in primary care to protect their staff and their premises.'