Former Tesco chief executive and chairman Lord Ian MacLaurin has backed a fledgling digital receipt company.

MacLaurin, best known for his 38 years with the grocery giant, has become an investor in Paperless Receipts, a London-based firm which aims to capitalise on a potential move away from the paper till receipt.

The company has developed technology which allows retailers to send digital receipts to customers’ personalised accounts within the Paperless Receipt website, reported The Sunday Times.

MacLaurin, who left Tesco in 1997 and later became Vodafone chairman, is credited with pioneering the Tesco Clubcard and expanding the retailer internationally.

Other investors in Paperless Receipts include Last.fm backer Peter Gardner and former Kiddicare owners the Wright family.

Around £500,000 has so far been raised from private investors by Paperless Receipts which has teamed up with IBM to create its eReceipts technology.

Tesco today announced it is to roll out a free Wi-Fi service in its Extra stores nationwide following a trial of the service. Clubcard users will be entitlted to unlimited access while those who do not have a Clubcard are able to access the internet for 15 minutes every 24 hours.