EasyFoodStore has imposed a 10-item limit on purchases to prevent retailers using it as a wholesale source.

Customers are being limited to 10 units of the same item per day, while the daily opening time has been delayed to 11am to facilitate restocking and cleaning of the store.

From 1 March it will reduce its range from about 70 to 40 lines, with the current 25p per item offer increasing to 29p during March and April.

The store currently sells Booker own label Happy Shopper and Euro Shopper lines, as well as some Bestway Best-one products.

Some retailers have warned that the Booker own brands could be devalued by their association with the budget store.

The latest low-price venture from easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou aims to fill the gap between discounters and food banks.