Self-service tills are now a common sight in almost every supermarket, but in a recently opened Waitrose store they’ve been replaced by manned tills.

The 30,000 sq ft Waitrose Oakgrove store in Milton Keynes, which opened in May 2013, removed the only two self-service tills late last month.

In their place, Waitrose is installing two manned tills and two terminals for users of its Quick Check scanners.

Waitrose said the store had performed above expectations and it was making the changes to “meet peak demand”.

“Due to space constraints, this meant the loss of two existing self-service tills,” said a Waitrose spokeswoman. “This move will help meet demand in store, and benefit our customers, by reducing their waiting time.”

However, the move angered some shoppers.

“Very disappointed to find the Self Service machines have been removed,” said one customer on Facebook.

“There were a few of us standing where they used to be in complete wonder as to where they had gone! I understand they are to be replaced with two cashier lanes. Surely this is a step backwards?”

Others welcomed the changes. “A step in the right direction if you ask me,” said one.

Self-service tills are thought to save shops money by helping them reduce staffing, but research out this week suggested they could be losing supermarkets £1.6bn a year.

In a survey of more than 2,000 shoppers by VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, one in five admitted to stealing from the tills. Shoppers most commonly owned up to pilfering fruit and veg.

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