The grocer said it would return the £100m it received from the government, joining the likes of Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda and non-food essential retailers such as B&M and Pets at Home which have all made the same decision over the last few days. 

Tesco sparked this rush to return business rates relief when it announced on Wednesday it would be repaying £585m in tax breaks to the government which chief executive Ken Murphy called “absolutely the right thing to do”. 

In its statement, Lidl said the reliefs at the beginning of the crisis had been “vital in allowing the discounter to make significant quick unplanned investments in its operations, infrastructure and people to manage customer demand.”