Lidl’s second G33 appearance didn’t go as well as the first: it came last with a score of 57. At the Old Kent Road store, beggars were outside the front door, and though the size of the car park impressed and the store was “immaculate”, with tidy and well-stocked shelves, there were no staff on the shop floor at any point during the visit, apart from a man carrying equipment and he didn’t seem to understand when our shopper tried to ask about items not found.

Asda clocked up another win, its eighth this G33 year - widening the gap to nearest rival Sainsbury’s. An “attractive, inviting store”, availability was excellent and checkout staff “couldn’t be faulted”.

At Tesco Welling, there were plenty of spaces in the car park and shelves were well-stocked. The layout was also logical and signage good apart from the puzzling “Irish” sign. Staff encounters were “variable” with some very helpful but others giving incorrect information. At the checkout there was no queue and the assistant didn’t say hello but she did offer to help with packing.

Plenty of staff were on hand at Sainsbury’s Durham and though it was busy it didn’t feel too crowded. Restocking trolleys were logically placed and products were arranged neatly. Staff were friendly and helpful. But there was a very lengthy queue (over four minutes) and a mistake was spotted on the receipt.

There was a short wait for a car parking space at Morrisons Warminster. As the trolleys were coin-operated there weren’t any abandoned. In-store, it was busy and “cluttered” but staff did their best to help our shopper find products and confirmed that the cheese was not stocked and that the pizza was out of stock. There was a slight queue at the till, but the checkout assistant did offer to help with packing.

The entrance to the car park wasn’t immediately obvious at Waitrose Banstead but once in-store the atmosphere was “calm”. In the fruit and veg section a staff member had put a restocking trolley in the most narrow part of the area, causing congestion. Staff were hard to find but they did demonstrate excellent ­customer service. Just one product was not stocked and the checkout assistant was “very pleasant”.

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