Shoppers overcharged by up to 300%

SHOPPERS are paying up to three times too much for their groceries, figures reveal. Just 48 hours after the Director of Consumer Affairs, Carmel Foley, launched a price awareness campaign, analysis of the latest Consumer Price Index compiled by the Central Statistics Office show some shops are charging up to three times more for the same items.

The startling price differences support the assertion by former head of Dunnes Stores Ben Dunne that domestic chains are charging too much for basic goods.

Consumer groups were hopeful that calls by Mr Dunne for Dunnes Stores and Tesco to cut prices to ward off the challenge posed by low-cost German chains, Aldi and Lidl, would spark a supermarket price war.