Asda under fire for Just Essentials price hike which has made it more expensive than all other supermarkets

Asda has been criticised for the hiking the price of one of its Just Essential products, making it more expensive than all the other main supermarkets.

When the new range first launched, a rebrand of Smart Price, the 500g packs of mince were the cheapest around, at £1.69.

The retailer was getting so much attention for its Just Essentials - largely because of its bright yellow labels - that other supermarkets were quick to follow, matching Asda's discounted price.

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Since then prices have been yo-yo'ing somewhat, but seemed to have recently settled around £1.79.

Even Morrisons, which had put its up to a hefty £2.39, last week brought its down to £1.79 too.

But this week Asda appears to have gone out on a limb, hiking its price to £1.99 - and the move hasn't gone down well with shoppers.

"This just makes so sense," said one shopper. "They're banging on about this being the best value range around, but it's anything but when you have prices like this."

The increase means that Asda now ranks second most expensive of all the supermarkets in our weekly comparison of eight basics, which we've been tracking since March.

It means the full basket of essentials - made up of an 800g loaf, two pints of milk, 200g of coffee, 160 teabags, a 250g block of butter, a tin of beans, 300g of chicken and 500g of mince - is now £11.18 at Asda, behind Morrisons, which is still the most expensive at £11.50.

Sainsbury's is just slightly cheaper than Asda at £11.15, followed by Tesco's £10.98, Aldi's £10.81 and the cheapest of all, Lidl, at £10.51.

Asda isn't the only one to increase prices this week though.

Both Tesco and Sainsbury's have