Supermarket chain Booths is UK first to ditch self-service tills and go back to staffed checkouts

Booths has become the first UK supermarket to axe almost all of its self-service checkouts.

The supermarket chain, which is known as the “Waitrose of the North”, has returned to fully-staffed checkouts in all but two of its 28 stores. Booths trades in northern England and has 16 stores in Lancashire, as well as shops in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Yorkshire.

Only two of its seven shops in Cumbria continue to have self-service stores. It marks a stark contrast compared to other UK supermarkets, which are increasing the number of self-service tills across stores.

Self-service tills allow shoppers to scan their own items by using a touchscreen and voice control. But they're not without issues - for example, age-restricted items still require a member of staff to come over and approve the purchase. Some charities have also pointed out that disabled shoppers may struggle to use the machines.

Booths, which was founded in 1847, said it was responding to customer feedback. A spokesman 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. 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. 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.”

Some supermarket chain sparked outrage by starting to ask customers to show their receipts before they leave, after using self-service machines. Last year, barriers at the self service checkouts in some Sainsbury's stores were introduced into some of its stores and customers had to scan receipts in order to open them. Tesco and Morrisons were also reported to have introduced the same policy in some stores.