Tesco is launching its first cash-free store after successful trials

The FTSE 100 chain said on Friday it would introduce "smooth" checkout, while the group reported higher sales, warning it saw a return to "normalised shopping patterns"

Chief executive Ken Murphy said the plans were only a beginning, but he was confident they would be able to compete with the appeal of similar scan-and-go stores that Amazon has been putting into the UK.

Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy today said the company would expand to a further store in the coming weeks and months.

The news came as Tesco revealed sales remained in positive territory in the 13 weeks to May 29 from a year earlier, when the same period in 2020 was at the height of the first lockout, when supermarket shelves were gutted.

This was 0.5% higher than last year when the sector was experiencing record growth after panic buying drove sales higher in the early months of the coronavirus crisis.

The statements come as sales in Britain's supermarkets jumped 0.5% to £10billion in the 13 weeks to May 29, 9.3% higher than the same period prior to the pandemic two years ago.

Murphy said when the lockdown eased in the first quarter, there were indications of more traditional trends, with more regular trips and smaller basket sizes compared to larger businesses.

Tesco also faces troubles stemming from the ongoing negotiations between the UK and EU about controls on goods entering Northern Ireland from the UK.