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Attacks on TV Licensing officers have more than doubled in the past year, with violent assaults and racial abuse now commonplace in the job.

The shocking attacks have seen officers just trying to do their jobs threatened with hammers, thrown over hedges and even admitted to hospital due to the severity of their injuries.

Officers have also seen a rise in the number of angry residents without TV licences taking videos of officers being abused so they can ‘shame’ them online.

In the past year, 89 enquiry officers were victims of physical assaults by members of the public, up from 37 last year.

Verbal abuse is also up 38% and incidents of officers being filmed while they are attacked is up by a staggering 140%, from 294 last year to 721.

Anser Hussain, an enforcement officer who checks unlicensed properties in West Yorkshire, has had bricks, stones and full cans of cokes pelted at him.

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“There’s the perception that people think they’re being caught doing something wrong, but if you don’t have a licence we’re just there to help,” the 38-year-old said.

Dad-of-two Anser has also been the victim of racial abuse.

“It’s intimidating and it’s frightening," he said.

"I have had every profanity you can imagine, including racist insults, thrown at me.”

Anser, who has had videos of him being attacked posted online, said: “I do genuinely think at times: ‘Am I going to come home to my lovely kids tonight?’

“My daughter does get upset sometimes and ask why I am doing the job.

“But it’s something I like doing – I like helping people.”

Officer Charlene Boucher, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was once followed by a man in his car who then cornered her in a deserted back street after she enquired about his licence.

The 55-year-old said: “He started screaming, shouting and swearing at me.

“I was really, really scared.”

A TV Licensing spokesman said it’s difficult to pin-point exactly what’s prompted the rise in attacks.

But Professor Mark Griffiths at Nottingham Trent University suggested the rise in ‘internet shaming’ videos is due to people feeling “anonymous and disinhibited online”.

To help raise awareness of their new anti-bullying campaign, TV Licensing has enlisted the help of US comedian Rob Delaney for a series of YouTube videos, starring Anser and other enforcement officers.

Colin Jones, TV Licensing’s field operations director, said: “The threats our officers receive when they are just trying to carry out their role are completely unacceptable.

“Those who attack them seem to forget they do a great job, remaining professional and courteous in sometimes very challenging circumstances and we do everything we can to support them.”