This article suggests that supermarkets are hiking up prices at a time when their costs are actually going down. According to the article although supermarkets claim to be cutting prices for their customers, they have actually imposed price increases on staple foods. The increase in costs could add as much as £1,100 a year to a family's grocery bills. The big four stores, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons have all been criticised for fattening up their profits at a time when they could be passing the savings onto hard pressed customers.

Asda has recalled 60,000 DVD players after a fault was found in the item. The retailer has estimated that around a third of the DVD players have a hole in the outer casing that could put users at a risk of electrocution. The affected product is model DVD1072UK which retails at £17.97. Asda have not said how many have been sold to customers but have asked people who have purchased one to return it to their nearest store. Customers will be able to obtain a refund if they return the DVD player even if they no longer have the box or a receipt.

Marks and Spencer will cut the price of many of its products in a bid to take on discount grocery and fashion stores. The price cutting drive has been announced at a time when their half year profits have fallen by 34%. M&S chairman Sir Stuart Rose said that the store group was planning to reduce costs to match the publics desire for cheaper goods. The group have also been running promotions such as their "dine in for £10" and weekend promotions which appear to be tempting customers back to their stores.

Tesco will expand its discount range to try and entice budget conscious customers. Increasingly customers have been moving towards discount stores like Aldi, Netto and Lidl to try and cut costs as the credit crunch hits. Tesco has already discounted hundreds of everyday groceries but will cut the cost of hundreds more in the next few weeks. They claim that customers are already choosing less well known discount brands instead of costlier versions of products such as tomato ketchup, beef burgers, washing up liquid and lettuce. Personally I have been choosing more supermarket own brands as prices keep creeping up.

The ticket website paperticket.co.uk has been closed by the Metropolitan Police due to fraud fears. The site sold tickets for a number of shows including Barry Manilow and The Killers. It was closed last Friday on suspicion of fraud. Customers who have purchased tickets from the website have been advised to contact the Consumer Direct advice service  on 08454 04 05 06 for more information. People that brought ticket with a credit or debit card may be able to obtain a refund from their card issuer.

Some of the leading supermarkets have announced more petrol cuts in a second week of fuel cuts. Morrisons cut 2p from the price of a litre of unleaded and diesel making the prices 97.9p and 109.9p. Asda introduced the same prices for its fuel yesterday morning. Tesco have cut prices to less than £1 a litre and have said it will knock a further 2p off prices at most of its filling stations. Sainsbury's have said that they will reduce their costs of unleaded petrol to 97.9p a litre and diesel to 109.9p a litre. Total, BP and Shell have also announced cuts.

Production of White Rabbit candy products has resumed after the China milk scare. The vanilla flavoured sweets which are exported across the world were withdrawn during the Chinese milk scare after fears that they contained melamine. Chinese officials have accused milk suppliers of adding the chemical to batches of milk to artificially boost its protein content. Four babies have dies and more than 54,000 children fell sick as a result. China's state council made an announcement yesterday that they will overhaul the dairy industry and punish companies that have put profit above safety. The manufacturer of White Rabbit candy will now undergo government quality testing as checks are carried out on milk products in China. The company have not yet said when the product will be back on sale.

BHS has reported a fall in pre tax profits for the year end of March. Profits are down from 34% to £32.6m from £49.4m 12 months earlier. Total sales at BHS were down 1.4% to £860m. Mr Green who owns the chain said the results were "a solid performance in an exceptionally challenging market". Other retailers such as Marks and Spencer have also recently reported its worst quarterly sales performance for more than three years.