Asda is yet again the cheapest retailer, having taken that title for 10 out of the 13 weeks of 2007.

It produced a £42.68 basket in The Grocer 33 pricing survey this week, which was due in part to an ongoing promotional deal on Radox Herbal Bath Foam and cheaper sausage rolls than its competitors.

Most of the other prices in Asda's basket remained static this week, though the cost of a 4-pack of Stella Artois dipped by 10p on last week's price.

Asda also kept the lower price for its own-label fresh kippers with butter, after knocking 5p off the cost last week.

After sharing second place last week with Tesco, Morrisons has edged ahead to provide a cheaper basket this week, with only a wafer-thin 8p difference between the two retailers.

Morrisons' basket cost £43.62 with Tesco pushed into the position of third cheapest retailer with a slightly more expensive basket cost of £43.70.

Radox Herbal Bath is 10p cheaper at Morrisons than last week, while Tesco's prices remained unchanged.

Sainsbury's was the fourth-cheapest retailer for the fifthweek in a row with a basket cost of £44.84. The retailer added 10p to the price of a kg of loose closed cup mushrooms from last week but the price of items in the basket remained largely unchanged.

Somerfield ranked fifth-

cheapest this week, with a basket costing £50.14. There were a number of price cuts in-store, including 4p knocked off the price of Philadelphia soft cheese and 9p off own-label soft scoop vanilla ice cream. However, with a £5.30 difference between Somerfield and fourth-cheapest retailer Sainsbury's, these cuts were not enough to move it up a place.

Waitrose ranked as the most expensive retailer yet again with a basket cost of £52.95.

The cost of items in its basket remained static, apart from a 6p drop in the price of a kg of bananas and the price of Wall's thick pork sausages falling 1p.

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