Morrisons supermarket cuts prices on 200 'everyday' items

Morrisons, the UK's fourth largest supermarket, is cutting prices of 200 "everyday items" by up to a third.

Four pints of semi-skimmed milk will drop 11% to 89p, while some bread brand prices will fall by 21%, the firm said.

New chief executive David Potts said the cuts would mean prices for "cupboard essentials will be amongst the lowest on the market."

The move is part of a bitter price war among supermarkets as they battle for customers.

The rise of discounters, such as Aldi and Lidl, and the growth of online shopping has hit all the "big four" supermarkets which as well as Morrisons includes Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda.

But Morrisons has been hit particularly hard.

Last year its profits halved - taking it to the lowest level for eight years. Following the dire annual results, Morrisons said it would commit a billion pounds over the next three years to lowering prices.

It followed similar moves from its rivals, with Asda committing £300m to lowering prices in the first three months of the year, Sainsbury's investing £150m to reduce the cost of 1,000 products and Tesco dropping prices on 2,500 "essentials".

A typical basket of everyday items is now 2.1% cheaper than it was in 2014, with all major retailers offering cheaper like-for-like goods, according to analyst Kantar Worldpanel.

While the major supermarkets struggle, discounters Aldi and Lidl continue to grab market share.

Lidl reached a new record high market share of 3.9%, according to Kantar figures up to 24 May, while Aldi has increased its share to 5.4%.