Lidl has cemented its lead over Morrisons as it hit a new record-high market share while Asda continues to struggle.

The German discounter has retained its new title of Britain’s fifth biggest supermarket, after pipping its beleaguered rival for the first time in May.

Lidl now holds an 8.7 per cent share of the grocery market, according to figures from Worldpanel by Numerator for the three months to 14 June - ahead of traditional heavyweight Morrisons, which holds 8.4 per cent.

Lidl remains behind fellow German supermarket Aldi, which is Britain's fourth biggest grocer with a 10.7 per cent market share and is closing in on Asda, with its 11.5 per cent market share.

Lidl has snapped up customers from traditional major supermarkets by opening more shops over the past few years.

It has previously said it will open more than 50 new stores in the next 12 months as part of a £600million investment - creating almost 2,000 new jobs.

Both Lidl and Morrisons managed to grow their share by 0.1 percentage point over the month, compared to an 8.6 per cent share for Lidl and 8.3 per cent share for Morrisons last month.

Lidl saw more than half a million extra shoppers through the tills over the three month period, compared to the same period last year, as sales rose 8.6 per cent to just under £3.2billion.

At Morrisons, sales grew just 1.4 per cent to just under £3.1billion.

Retail experts say the German retailer has had an impressive ascent, as twenty years ago it made up just 1.4 per cent of the market.

By contrast, Morrisons has been struggling to retain shoppers since it was taken over by US buyout group Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (CD&R) in 2021.

Similarly, Asda, which was also bought by a private equity group a few years ago, has also been struggling. It was the only major grocer to see its sales plunge last month, falling 3.6 per cent to just under £4.2billion, according to Worldpanel’s figures.

But boss Allan Leighton is attempting to revive the supermarket’s fortunes with price cuts and said earlier this month that being overtaken was ‘not bloody inevitable.’

Retailers are facing competition for shoppers’ weekly shops amid pressure on their costs arising from the war in the Middle East, which has hiked energy and logistics costs.

Despite concerns about prices, grocery inflation eased to 3 per cent for the four weeks to 14 June, compared to 3.1 per cent for the previous month.

Prices are hotting up fastest in categories including fresh fish and skin care, but are falling fastest in products such as butter and smoothies.