Trading standards has fined Tesco £300,000 after it admitted misleading customers over a “half price” offer on strawberries.

Trading standards officers had alleged that the £1.99 strawberries on sale in Sheldon, Birmingham, in 2011 had not been for sale at £3.99 long enough before they were reduced.

Judge Michael Chambers, at Birmingham Crown Court, said the case was "shocking by its very nature" because consumers had a "high degree of trust" in national chains. He added that the promotion was "patently wrong and misleading".

Tesco admitted the offence and apologised for what happened. It added: "We sell over 40,000 products in our stores, with thousands on promotion at any one time, but even one mistake is one too many. Since then, to make sure this doesn't happen again we've given colleagues additional training and reminded them of their responsibilities to ensure we always adhere to the guidelines on pricing."