MORRISONS has distanced itself from a new government-backed report which claims supermarket shoppers seduced by special offers end up spending over £1,000 more a year than planned.

The Money Advice Service (MAS) found three-quarters of people regularly spent more than they meant to at supermarkets due to special offers and buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) multi-buy deals.

But Bradford-based Morrisons said it no longer offered BOGOF deals and its multi-buy goods were based on what people bought in any case.

A company spokesman said: "We no longer offer buy-one-get-one-free deals and we aim to run multi-deals on products that customers tend to buy more than one of anyway, for example lunch box yoghurts.”

The MAS reports says, on average, people said they spend £11.14 more than intended per shop. As the average shopper visits the supermarket more than twice a week, it calculated this could lead someone to spend around £1,274 per year more than planned.

MAS also asked more than 2,000 consumers to select the cheapest options when presented with four sets of offers as they might be found in a supermarket.

Just two per cent selected the best-value option from all four sets of offers, while 74 per cent answered at least one question correctly.

Hunger, boredom and children's "pester power" were also common reasons people gave for buying more than they had intended.

Six in ten people said shopping on an empty stomach made them spend more, with women more likely to stock up on chocolate, sweets and pastries, while hungry men were more susceptible to buying meat and alcohol.

One in three spend shoppers more when they are bored in the supermarket, while one in four said pressure from children makes them stuff their trolley with extra purchases.

The research also found that people who made a shopping list, and stuck to it while in the supermarket, typically spent £200 a year less than those who rarely or never made a list.

John Penberthy-Smith, MAS customer director, said: "The problem is that quite often we see a special offer at the supermarket and we don't want to miss out - so we throw it into our trolley without really thinking about whether it is a good deal or whether we actually need it.

"The best thing to do if you want to save cash is to write a shopping list and try to stick to it. You can also try shopping when you've just eaten and you're not tired.