Although some Reddit users who commented on the photo of the scales were positive with one saying “they are 10x more convenient and faster”, many were more critical of their introduction.

“More and more the honest shopper is treated like a thief,” one said, while another wrote “the point of all this is to save on staff”.

Business retail consultant Ged Futter told the BBC this was about loss prevention and staffing costs.

“There is no way this is about making it quicker for the shopper. It’s supposed to be scan and go – this is scan and stop while your trolley is weighed.”

He said self-scan had increased the rate of shoplifting but instead of putting staff back on tills, supermarkets were trying to use even more technology to stop thefts.

“This is supermarkets saying, ‘we know there are thefts so what we are going to do is treat every customer in exactly the same way to reduce theft’.

“They’re forgetting that trust is the most important thing for all of the retailers and it works both ways. If customers don’t feel trusted or think they’re being treated like thieves they will go somewhere else.”