MORE than a million jobs in the retail sector could go by 2020, a new report warned yesterday.

A year-long review of Britain’s beleagured shops carried out by the Fabian Society suggests the government has ignored the sector in spite of promises to beef up Britain’s high streets.

A task force of trade union officials, retail bosses and policy wonks commissioned by the centrist think tank found that many retailers are “aggressively squeezing supply chains and viewing labour as a cost to be minimised wherever possible.”

They said automation could “strip millions of jobs out of the UK workforce and lead to a further decline of high streets, town centres and community spaces.”

The report calls for workers on low and zero-hours contracts to be given the right to guaranteed working patterns.

Task force chairman former Morrisons executive Norman Pickavance said: “Online retailers threaten to destroy high streets, and pound shops are sprouting up in the space that’s been left behind.

“Our analysis highlights that failure to include the retail sector in the modern industrial strategy is a glaring omission.”

Labour shadow business minister Chi Onwurah said the report was “further evidence that Theresa May’s industrial strategy is little more than window-dressing for continued managed decline under the Tories.”

But a government spokesman said retailers should “come to us with proposals for how we can help them respond to future challenges and opportunities.”

Shopworkers’ union Usdaw general secretary John Hannett said: “If retailers want to make real productivity gains and meet the challenges ahead, they need to make sure that workers have good-quality jobs with decent pay and a voice in the workplace.”