Booths supermarket puts staff back behind the tills as it axes almost all its self-service check outs

All but two of Booths' 27 stores will now see staff back on the tills.

A spokesman for Booths said: “We believe colleagues serving customers delivers a better customer experience and therefore we have taken the decision to remove self-checkouts in the majority of our stores.

"We have based this not only on what we feel is the right thing to do but also having received feedback from our customers.

"We will retain self-checkouts in two of our stores in the Lake District in order to meet the needs of our customers during very busy periods.

The spokesman added: “Since 1847, the Booths founding philosophy is to, “Sell the best goods available, in attractive stores, staffed with first class assistants.”

“Delighting customers with our warm Northern welcome is part of our DNA and we continue to invest in our people to ensure we remain true to that ethos.”

Booths can trace its roots back to the mid 19th century when tea dealer Edwin Henry Booth secured a loan of £80 to open his first shop, The China House in Blackpool.

In 1896, Booths was incorporated as a private limited company and shortly afterwards a staff bonus scheme was proposed based on company profits.

The chain expanded rapidly in the 1970s, expanding into new regions, opening stores at Windermere, Ulverston, Knutsford, Ilkley and Settle. The company subsequently doubled in size between 1990 and 2000.

The self-service till was invented by David R Humble in the early 1980s. These tills soared in popularity in the 1990s as technology improved. By 2013, there were more than 200,000 in stores throughout the world, according to the BBC.

However, some shoppers prefer to be served by a member of staff because they value face to face interaction.