Boots and Sainsbury have scrapped their store-within-a-store trial after failing to agree on a deal for the roll-out of the offer.

Since October 2001, Boots provided the health and beauty offer in nine of Sainsbury's stores. Now the supermarket group is said to be looking to expand its own label health and beauty range to compensate for the end of the trial.

The two companies invested some £8m in the project and a further £1m to £2m will be required to revert the stores back to their original format.

Boots chief executive Steve Russell said it would now accelerate its programme of store openings to double edge of town stores from the current level of 77, over the next three years.