Tesco tills hit by tech problems

Tesco is the UK's largest retailer

Tesco has apologised to shoppers after 67 of its 2,184 UK supermarkets had to close temporarily because of computer problems at their tills.

A spokeswoman said that the problems were caused by a routine upgrade to the company's IT system, which had been sent to stores overnight.

Tesco said that the "glitch" had been identified and fixed "within minutes".

Customers reported long queues and difficulties paying at both regular and self-service checkouts.

Problems were reported in Worcester, Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, Mold in North Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Texts sent to BBC Radio 5 Live also told of payment problems at stores in Tring, Hertfordshire, and Oakham, Rutland.

"We have had an IT update overnight, which has affected a minority of our stores. They have had to reboot the tills in those stores," the spokeswoman said.