Shares in Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons fell yesterday after analysts warned the chains could struggle to hit sales expectations.

“Consensus forecasts appear to assume that Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrison will all continue to grow UK sales by 6%-9% per year,” Geoff Ruddell, an analyst at Morgan Stanley said in a note.

“We do not believe this is possible in a market that, we think, is likely to grow by 2%-3% per annum over the next couple of years,” he added.

Tesco shares fell 1.8% to 403p, Sainsbury's fell 0.2% to 399.5p and Morrisons fell 0.7% to 291.5p.