Tesco has come under fire after a glitch in its payment system led to customers being charged three months late.

The grocer has apologised for the error, which resulted in some shoppers being charged for numerous shopping trips all at once.

Tesco said this was caused by an issue with its card payments system at 300 of its Express stores.

According to Money Saving Expert, customers are “furious” to find that payments made in November, December and January have all suddenly been debited from their accounts.

Some have complained of being unexpectedly thrown into their overdraft by the late charges.

In a letter to affected customers, Tesco chief customer officer Alessandra Bellini said: “We are writing to let you know that a number of credit and debit card payments did not process correctly for some customers, in a small number of our Express stores.

“You may have noticed this as an unexpected transaction at Tesco in your bank statement.

“You were accidentally not charged on a recent visit and this is a delayed payment. Rest assured, you will not have paid twice. You can view all transactions affected below.”