Morrisons has made a radical U-turn in the way it handles self-service checkouts in its stores, with its boss admitting that the supermarket chain had “gone a bit too far”.

The retailer has decided to reduce the number of its self-checkout lanes after reportedly admitting it had installed too many of them.

Rami Baitiéh, chief executive of Morrisons, said they would “review the balance between self-service checkouts and manned checkouts”.

Previously, Asda had recently announced that it would invest in staff rather than self-checkouts. Meanwhile, North American retailer Booths announced last year that it would abandon the technology.

Mr Baitiéh added that he believed the increase in controversial self-checkout lanes had also contributed to the increase in shoplifting.

According to the Telegraph, several major supermarkets have installed more unmanned checkouts in recent years to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

But the move is reportedly controversial for many shoppers, who reportedly prefer to have their purchases scanned. The practice has also been linked to a rise in shoplifting among the “middle class”.

The supermarket came to this decision after conducting an analysis of the self-checkout registers across its entire range.

Mr Baitiéh continued: “We checked the entire complex and it turned out that in 20 branches the number of self-service checkouts needs to be balanced with the number of cash registers.”

For example, Morrisons has already removed some of its self-service checkouts in a branch in Yorkshire and installed four manned checkouts instead – a change that colleagues and customers are “very happy” about.

The change comes shortly after Asda announced last week that it would spend £30 million on extra staff hours to increase checkout numbers and keep shelves stocked.

The Asda boss told the Telegraph at the time: “I think we have reached a level with self-checkout and scan-and-go checkouts where we think it works best for our customers.”

“We have invested additional hours in manned checkouts within the existing physical infrastructure (of the stores). It’s not about more checkouts, but more employees at the checkouts.”

The independent supermarket chain Booths has also decided to abolish self-service checkouts in all branches – with the exception of two – from November.