Tesco to complain over Asda price campaign

Tesco said Asda's claim is a "cynical ploy to mislead customers using a flawed comparison that excludes about half Tesco's range".

Tesco said the comparison excludes many products that customers buy every day such as fruit, vegetables and meat. It added that the scheme relies on customers to go through a complicated process to get their money back.

Tesco's commercial director Richard Brasher, who takes over as UK chief executive in March, said: "It is vitally important that the whole industry acts in a way that deserves the trust of customers. We are calling on the ASA to act, and to act quickly, because in our view customers are being misled by false Asda claims."

Tesco said it will accept refund vouchers from Leeds-based Asda. It said that Asda's advertising gives the impression that Asda is 10 per cent cheaper across the board.

It added that the Asda website and the mysupermarket.com data on which it relies can only match about half the products it offers.

Bradford-based Morrisons has also slammed Asda's price guarantee as a stunt, saying that Morrisons' prices cannot be compared to rivals as they are not published on line.

Asda said in response: "Clearly the truth on pricing hurts. But our customers aren't complaining about our simple promise to be 10 per cent cheaper or give them the difference."