Lidl has announced it will increase the rates of pay for new shop floor workers. The new rate of pay is more than £10 an hour.

Bosses have said entry-level wages will rise from £9.50 to £10.10 an hour outside London and from £10.85 to £11.30 in the capital from March 2022.

Longer serving staff will also see their pay rates rise to £11.40 and £12.25 outside and inside London, depending on their length of service.

Lidl has said this means it is now the highest-paying supermarket in the country.

The grocer added this raise is in recognition of the hard work done by staff during the pandemic.

Bosses said the extra £18 million spent by the business on the new wages equates to £50 million invested in hourly wage increases over the past five years.

This follows a £200 bonus given to all frontline workers this year, as well as a £150 gift voucher for all staff during 2020.

Christian Hartnagel, Lidl GB chief executive, said: “We have ambitious plans to grow our business across Great Britain, and to do that we need to ensure we attract and look after the best talent at every level of our business.”

He has targeted 1,000 stores by the end of 2023.