Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Kirkcaldy Lidl staff ‘spat at and punched’ during months of abuse

The town's MSP claims the anti-social behaviour is the worst he has ever seen.

Lidl supermarket on the Esplanade in Kirkcaldy. Image: Neil Henderson/DC Thomson
Lidl supermarket on the Esplanade in Kirkcaldy. Image: Neil Henderson/DC Thomson

Workers at a Kirkcaldy supermarket are being spat at, punched and threatened during a daily campaign of abuse.

Staff at the Lidl store on the Esplanade are being targeted by a gang of youths – some thought to be as young as 11.

The town’s MSP, David Torrance, says it is the worst anti-social behaviour he has seen in the town in more than 30 years.

The politician was shown one video where a female worker was punched in the face while another showed staff being threatened with acts of violence.

Workers ‘living in fear every day’

A source close to staff members told The Courier that workers are “living in fear every single day”.

The source said: “The shop is being terrorised and it’s being going on for months.

“Staff have threatened that they will be stabbed while another had a youth spit right in their face.

Staff at the Lidl supermarket in Kirkcaldy have faced months of abuse. Image: Neil Henderson/DC Thomson

“On another occasion a member of staff was knocked to the ground and had their glasses broken.

“It’s not just happening at night either – the store is being targeted at all times of the day.

“Police are being called to the store on a regular basis and have been for a long time but, if anything, it’s getting worse.”

‘I thought nothing would shock me any more’

Mr Torrance has called for a meeting involving police to discuss the problems.

He said: “Having been a councillor for 20 years and an MSP for Kirkcaldy for the last 12 I thought nothing would shock me any more.

“However the CCTV has left me both stunned and appalled by the level of abuse these youths have inflicted on staff.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen in my constituency and it involves a gang of around eight youths aged from 11 to 14 years old.

“CCTV footage shows a female employee being punched in the face by a youth.

Kirkcaldy MSP, David Torrance. Image: David Torrance.
David Torrance MSP.

“I’m told staff have faced serious threats of violence on an almost daily basis.

“People’s mental health is now being affected too.”

Inspector Nicola Black, of Kirkcaldy police station, told The Courier officers are aware of anti-social behaviour in the Esplanade area.

She said: “This kind of behaviour is not acceptable and those found responsible are dealt with appropriately.

“I would ask parents and guardians to make sure they know where their children, who they are associating with are and what they are doing.

Abuse ‘faced by other retailers in Kirkcaldy’

“Where instances do happen. we would encourage these to be reported to officers via 101 so that we can investigate accordingly.”

A spokesperson for Lidl UK said: “Lidl takes any abusive and violent behaviour towards our colleagues extremely seriously.

“We have several measures in place to protect both colleagues and customers, including the presence of security guards and CCTV.

“We can confirm that police have been alerted to the anti-social behaviour, which we understand is being experienced by other retailers in the area too, and we continue to support them in their investigations.”

Conversation