Who we visited

Jones Trowbridge, Wiltshire

Londis Surbiton, Surrey

Budgens Melbourne, Derbyshire

Co-operative Group Bexhill, East Sussex

tesco express, East Hunsbury, Northamptonshire



How they performed

Bacon proved to be a troublesome item this week, with only Londis and Budgens able to provide our mystery shoppers with the product. These stores managed to provide a full basket but at Budgens not all the items were priced, meaning our mystery shopper had to find a member of staff to ask the price. However, it was running a promotion to get 100 extra free teabags.

The Co-operative Group's Welcome store did not stock Tetley teabags or a 6-pack of unsmoked bacon, but our shopper said the store was clean and tidy with helpful staff who offered to pack.

Meanwhile our shopper at the Jones store was not impressed by its appearance, which she described as "tatty", with unattractive shelving that she felt was quite basic. The store charged £1.95 for a 2-litre bottle of Coca-Cola, a whopping 59p more than Budgens, who provided the cheapest price at £1.36. In fact, Jones was the most expensive for every item in the basket and offered no promotions.

Londis was described as clean and tidy as well as providing two promotions, with two cans of Heinz Baked Beans for £1 and three packs of unsmoked bacon for £3. Our shopper even had his bags packed for him and commented on the good customer service he received from the assistant.

At Tesco Express things were much the same, with help offered to pack bags and attractive displays. The store offered two-for-£2.50 or three-for-£3.30 on bottles of Coca-Cola but only stocked eight-packs of bacon, rather than the six-pack specified on our list.

Milk prices continued to fluctuate, with a 26p difference between the cheapest and most expensive prices.