Aldi has been found to be the UK’s cheapest supermarket when buying a basket of shopping – but Asda came out on top when using a trolley to stock up on a larger amount of supplies.
A basket of 41 grocery items at Aldi cost £72.54 on average across the month of March, compared with £92.55 at Waitrose and £72.79 at Lidl, the Which? consumer watchdog found.
However, when there was a comparison of 137 items, Asda was found to be the cheapest with the final cost coming in at £343.91.
This larger amount of shopping included the original 41 items as well as another 96 including branded products such as Andrex toilet paper and Cathedral City cheese.
Sainsbury’s was the next cheapest when buying 137 items, costing £9.25 more.
Waitrose was £41.83 more expensive than Asda.
The full list of cheapest supermarkets for a basket of 41 items was:
Which? said the findings demonstrated that shoppers can make considerable savings on their groceries depending on where they buy their food.
However, it said many of the major supermarkets had not done enough to support their customers during the cost of living crisis.
The watchdog said retailers should be helping customers by making sure affordable basic ranges were available in all branches, including smaller convenience stores, as well as improving unit pricing on all products to allow customers to easily work out the best value.
Which? retail editor Ele Clark said: “We know people are suffering through the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades and the price of food and drink has skyrocketed no matter where you shop.
“However, our monthly supermarket analysis shows you could save £20 on a basket of everyday groceries at the cheapest supermarket compared to the priciest one.
“Supermarkets aren’t currently doing enough to help customers. Which? believes the big retailers have a responsibility to ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, and to provide transparent pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value.”
Last month, the Office for National Statistics reported that UK inflation shot up unexpectedly to 10.4% in February as vegetable shortages pushed food prices to their highest rate in more than 45 years.
Rory McIlroy has completed a career Grand Slam in golf with his win at the US Masters tournament.
The Masters was the last major tournament left for McIlroy to complete the modern golf Grand Slam – a feat only five others have managed before him.
McIlroy, who was making his 11th attempt at completing the Grand Slam, faced off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to decide the Masters champion, after they finished tied on 11 under at the end of regulation on Sunday.
Image: McIlroy reacts as he wins. Pic: AP
Image: McIlroy reacts after winning against Justin Rose at the Masters. Pic: AP
“It’s my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said just before slipping on the Green Jacket during the presentation ceremony.
“I’m just absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”
McIlroy had missed his six-foot putt for par, a bogey which dropped him back to 11 under, where he joined Rose – leading to a dramatic play-off between the two.
Only five other golfers have been able to complete a career Grand Slam, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
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Image: Pic: AP
McIlroy is a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, claiming the prize in 2012 and 2014.
The 35-year-old also won his first major title, the US Open, in 2011, and won The Open Championship in 2014.
How did McIlroy get to the victory?
McIlroy recovered from losing his overnight two-shot advantage with an opening-hole double bogey to initially take control at Augusta National, only to blow a four-shot lead over his closing six holes.
The world No 2 bogeyed the last to close a one-over 73 and slip back to 11 under alongside Rose, who overturned a seven-stroke deficit and posted a stunning final-round 66 to force a play-off.
The players returned to the 18th for the play-off, where McIlroy made amends for his 72nd-hole blunder by firing a stunning approach to within three feet of the pin and making the birdie putt required for a life-changing win.
Last-minute efforts to keep British Steel operating are to be carried out today, as the plant races to secure a supply of raw materials.
The Department for Business and Trade said officials are working to secure supplies of materials, including coking coal, to keep British Steel operational, as well as to ensure all staff will be paid.
It added that setting up new supply chains was “crucial” as a fall in blast furnace temperature could risk “irreparable damage to the site, with the steel setting and scarring the machinery”.
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Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement that “when I said steelmaking has a future in the UK, I meant it”.
“Steel is vital for our national security and our ambitious plans for the housing, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in the UK,” he added.
“We will set out a long-term plan to co-invest with the private sector to ensure steel in the UK has a bright and sustainable future.”
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Image: Unions said Jingye decided to cancel orders of key materials for the steelworks
Earlier this month, unions said the steelwork’s owner, Chinese company Jingye, decided to cancel future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
It meant the Scunthorpe plant had been on course to close down by May, bit it sparked urgent calls for government intervention.
Emergency legislation was passed on Saturday bringing the steelworks into effective government control, and officials were on site as soon as the new legislation came into force.
However, the business secretary has warned that does not mean the plant is guaranteed to survive.
Appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds also said he would not bring a Chinese company into the “sensitive” steel sector again.
“I don’t know… the Boris Johnson government when they did this, what exactly the situation was,” he added. “But I think it’s a sensitive area.”
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1:27
‘I wouldn’t bring a Chinese company into our steel sector’
Jingye stepped in with a deal to buy British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant out of insolvency in 2020, when Mr Johnson was prime minister.
The minister added that while The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill stops short of the full nationalisation of British Steel, “to be frank, as I said to parliament yesterday, it is perhaps at this stage the likely option”.
The Conservatives accused the government of acting “too late” and implementing a “botched nationalisation” after ignoring warnings about the risk to the steelworks.