The report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) suggested supermarkets “could do more” to broaden access to loyalty schemes, which it found do offer genuine savings.

Supermarket loyalty cards do offer genuine savings, the UK's competition watchdog has found, but it said people should still shop around. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) examined 50,000 products on loyalty price promotions across Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Co-op and Waitrose.

Britain’s antitrust regulator said it found little evidence that supermarkets inflate their regular prices to make loyalty promotions seems like a better deal, concluding a probe that started in January.

The CMA said it had found very little evidence of supermarkets inflating their 'usual' prices to make loyalty promotions seem like a better deal.

Britain's competition regulator said on Wednesday that supermarket prices offered through loyalty schemes do provide genuine savings.