From October 1, Lidl will raise base-level pay rates from £10.10 to £10.90 per hour outside of London and £11.30 to £11.95 per hour within the M25, with colleagues earning up to £12 and £13 respectively.

The discounter said this pay rise represented an increase of between 10 and 14.5% for staff over the last 12 months and means that from October, 40% of hourly paid colleagues will be paid at least £12 an hour.