German discount supermarket Lidl has announced that it plans to double the number of its UK stores from 600 to up to 1,500.

UK managing director Ronny Gottschlich told the Sunday Telegraph that a “new era” would see the chain open around 30 new stores a year.

"We really see ourselves these days more of a supermarket than the hard discounter of the past," Mr Gottschlich said. "Those times are over."

He added: "I actually do think we are entering a new era. It is obviously different in every country how long it could take for customers' behaviours to start changing.

"I think that people's perception in the past, and this is something that is definitely changing, is there must be something wrong with the quality of what those people at Lidl offer because they have such reasonable pricing in their stores."