Former Tesco US boss Tim Mason has said that he wishes he had been given more time to make the group’s Fresh & Easy venture a success.

He said: "Fresh & Easy was a great idea, and people who worked there, and the customers who went there, loved it. In different economic circumstances I'm very sure it could have been a success.

"Yes, I would have liked more time...but I couldn't have expected longer given the global circumstances that Tesco found itself in."
Tesco pulled out of its US venture earlier this year at a cost of  £1.5 billion.