UK retail giant Tesco has insisted that its operation of a two-tiered pricing structure was a software error and not the breach of an industry-wide agreement.

Prices on a range of 800 items were found to be 5% lower in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK, according to industry figures, which is said to contravene the supermarket’s national pricing policy.

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Tesco however, said the discrepancy was due to a “technical error”.

“A relatively small number of products at our Scottish stores were incorrectly priced by a small amount,” the retailer said today (8 August). “This was caused by a technical error as our Scottish stores are being moved to a new pricing software system. The error was corrected as quickly as possible on Sunday.”

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