Tesco has hit back at big-four rival Sainsbury’s by pledging to match the prices of thousands of Argos products during the festive season.

The supermarket giant has launched the price-checking initiative on 8,000 products, including hundreds of toys, as it bids to become “the UK’s top destination for toys and games” this Christmas.

As part of the assault on Argos – which was acquired by Sainsbury’s in a £1.4bn deal last month – Tesco has also created a 123-page toy catalogue.

The free publication will be handed out to shoppers for free at almost 900 Tesco stores up and down the UK.

Tesco’s price promise on general merchandise comes days after its UK boss Matt Davies said the grocer would “do everything we can” to keep grocery prices low in the aftermath of June’s Brexit vote.

“Everybody should be very clear how damaging inflation is to the economy, to retail business and to manufacturing business, and how lethal it can be to millions of people who are struggling to live from week to week,” he told the IGD Big Debate on Tuesday.

On the move to match Argos’s prices on toys, Davies said: “We want to take the hard work out of Christmas shopping and help our customers get everything they need under one roof.”

To promote its range of toys, Tesco has also launched its new ‘Toy Tester’ TV advertising campaign, which shows a team of youngsters putting the retailer’s toys through their paces in supermarket aisles.