The shopper named Christine Turton, who resides in Crosby Merseyside was arrested by police on suspicion of fraud, after using a Nectar card belonging to someone else to purchase groceries at her local Sainsbury’s outlet last month.

The 48 year old shopper had both her finger prints and DNA taken, and was also required to undergo a drug test after being interviewed by police and then being released on bail.

Sainsbury’s has banned Ms. Turton from all its stores for life and have refused to lift the nationwide ban despite the case having been dropped by the Merseyside Police.
Ms. Turton says that she was accidentally handed the wrong Nectar card by a cashier on a previous trip to the supermarket. The card had been reported lost by an elderly gentleman.

Ms. Turton also insists that she has never received a letter from the retailers suggesting that she had been banned and has continued shopping at her local Sainsbury’s every day.

Mrs Turton, who shopped at the store since it first opened more than 20 years ago, said: “I would never use someone else’s Nectar card . It’s preposterous. I would have nothing to gain.”

“It must have been a mistake at the check-out weeks earlier. Like everyone else I didn’t check the back of the card for the signature. All the cards look the same and I can understand that a mistake was made, but to have me arrested over it was just ridiculous.”

“I was treated like a common criminal. It was a terribly frightening and something that I would not wish on anyone.”

“I’ve been a loyal customer of Sainsbury’s for two decades and think I’m owed an apology. But instead of that they’ve banned me from every store in Britain and now I have to go through an appeal process to get allowed back in.”

“I’m not prepared to let them blacken my name so I want them to overturn this unjustified ban.”

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s said: “We want to serve our customers, so we never take this kind of action lightly or without investigation.”

“Mrs Turton can appeal the ban but at this stage we stand by our decision.”

According to the report, the cost of a 500 gram jar of the dark stuff has risen by 25 per cent over the last half decade and is currently sold at £5.03 at Sainsbury’s and £5.38 at Waitrose a cost which exceeds the price of a gallon of petrol in most parts of Britain.

Around 60 million jars of the yeast spread are produced every year, and despite the increase in price, sales of the product increased by 2 per cent in the last year.

Unilever, the company which owns the Marmite name, refused to offer an explanation for the steep price rise.

Adam Leyland, editor of The Grocer magazine, said: “Compared with bread, which has gone up by around 40 per cent in price over the past five years, this is a relatively modest rise.”

“But Marmite does not appear to contain any ingredients that have been subject to sharp price hikes. This could be a case of Unilever trying to increase its profit margins.”

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The study conducted by market research firm Kantar Worldpanel suggests that aggregate sales across all British supermarkets grew by 3.6 per cent year on year during the quarter ending March 21st, the slowest growth rate since August 2007.

Kantar Worldpanel says the reason for the slowdown was due to lower food price inflation which fell to 1.8 per cent compared with 9.1 per cent in the same time period during the previous year.

” While lower inflation has had a dampening effect on retailer growth, it also “brings benefits to consumers. The latest figures suggest that shoppers are taking advantage of slower grocery price increases by trading up to more expensive lines such as Tesco Finest,” Kantar Worldpanel ‘s Fraser McKevitt said.

According to the results of the survey, Morrison’s was the strongest performer amongst the Big Four grocery retailers, with sales increasing by 7.8 per cent year on year during the quarter ending March 21st.

Next was Sainsbury’s with sales rising by 4.6 per cent, followed by Tesco (4.1 per cent) and Asda (2.7 per cent).

Strawberries went on sale at 25 Morrisons retail outlets in the South of England, with the UK’s largest retailer Tesco confirming they are now available in 15 stores.

The other major retailers including Asda, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are all expected to begin stocking the first British grown strawberry crop of 2010 in the next few days.

Tesco strawberry buyer Ben Reed said: “Not only are we enjoying the first warm weather of the year this week but we’ve also now got the first British strawberries which means that summer is well and truly on the way.”

“The arrival of the first home grown strawberries is extremely significant – not only does it herald the start of British Summer Time but it is also the start of the UK growing season.”

“Many shoppers think of the first home grown strawberries as being bitter and hard but the ones we’ve got our hands on are delicious.”

Nicki Baggott, soft fruit buyer for Waitrose, added: “The first British strawberry signifies the end of winter and heralds the arrival of spring. This explains why it’s the ultimate feel good fruit – and one which retailers are clamouring to get on shelves as early as they can.”

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Sainsbury’s says it will open the Wellingborough college, which will help would be bakers to obtain their NVQs and enable them to receive the necessary skills that would allow them to work at in-store bakeries across Sainsbury’s retail outlets across the UK.

The supermarket chain says the institute will reduce the level of time taken to train new employees by half, from the current twelve months, to six months. The college is to be launched in partnership with flour supplier Whitworth.

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The report suggests that 42 per cent of all British towns were in such a position, with some chains owning more than one outlet within a ten minute drive of one other. The finding has alarmed small business.

David Amess, Conservative MP and and chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group is calling for a government inquiry into the supermarket industry.

Mr. Amess would like the government to investigate claims that supermarket retail chains are choking high street business.  Mr. Amess claims that the retailers, through the employment of high priced lawyers, are able to overturn decisions taken by local authority.

The rise of the supermarket in the UK contrasts significantly with the number of independent retailers, which has declined considerably from 500,000 in 145, to just 35,500 today.

The ‘big four’ supermarkets – Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco have captured nearly 75 per cent of the £80 billion grocery sector.

Add to the mix the fact that the UK entered recession in 2008, and the story for independent retailers has not been good, with more than 2000 going out of business last year.

The diversification of supermarkets into multiple consumer segments has made it even harder for small businesses to be successful.

The pace of growth in the market slowed to 5 per cent during the quarter ending February 21st, compared with 5.2 per cent in the preceding quarter.

A spokesperson for the research firm says the slow down in growth could be as a result of price cuts and price wars undertaken by many retailers. Some analysts suggests however that customer loyalty may be declining as a result of the economic downturn.

Asda was the leading beneficiary in February, after having seen declines in January. The retailer engaged in an aggressive marketing campaign which produced sales growth of 3.3 per cent during February compared with 2,1 per cent in January.

Despite the increase, Asda’s market share has fallen to 17 per cent from 17.2 per cent as perennial rival Tesco gained at its expense, increasing its market share by 0.3 per cent to 30.4 per cent of the total market after aggressively cutting its prices.

Some analysts have expressed concern at the performance of Sainsbury’s, whom many believe lags the traditional market leaders Tesco and Asda.