The Boots Meal Deal, a popular staple of the British lunchtime, has seen its price jacked up quietly by the high street chemist, This is Money can reveal.

Those in London and at airports will now pay £3.99 for the deal - which lets shoppers pick up a sandwich, snack and drink – up from £3.79 at the end of 2016.

This is an increase of 5.2 per cent, far higher the current CPI measure of inflation, which was three per cent for September.

'Dark times': The price of the popular Boots Meal Deal - a lunchtime staple for many - has quietly gone up recently

And in a move that may irk Londoners, the price of the deal has only nudged up 10p in the same timeframe outside of the capital to £3.39, 15 per cent cheaper.

The price hike for Londoners has come in two stages. At the end of last year, it cost £3.79 before rising to £3.89 - and this week rising quietly again to £3.99.

The deal, which has run for a number of years, is popular and has even spawned social media pages where people rate each other's Boots lunch choices.

In some instances, those taking up the deal can snap up three items often totalling up to £7 or £8 at the reduced price.

Earlier in the year, mobile giant O2 pulled a popular £1 deal from its loyalty scheme – it saw its customers grab the same meal deal from Boots on a Monday, but for just a quid.

The meal deal has always been more expensive in London and airports compared to other areas of the country - but now the gap has widened to 60p instead of 50p.

A Boots spokesman said: 'Boots is committed to offering great value to our customers. We regularly review our prices taking into account both internal and external factors, and we are always trying to limit any impact these may have on our customers.

'The decision to increase the meal deal price from £3.89 to £3.99 in our London and airport stores from 16 October, will allow us to maintain the wide range of choice our customers enjoy and expect with over six million Meal Deal combinations.

'The all-inclusive nature of our meal deal ensures we are still offering customers great value.

'Boots UK has continued to invest in its offer, making it one of the best value Meal Deals on the high street, with potential savings of up to £3.75 in London and Airports (£4.35 in all other stores).

'We are constantly improving our range including adding premium options such as Emily Veg Crisps, Fire & Smoke Protein Pots and Harry Bromptons Ice Tea.'

A few eagle-eyed people have spotted the price rise and taken to social media website Twitter.

£3.99 for a Boots Meal Deal?! These are dark times. — Dan Prior (@MrDanielPrior) 17 October 2017

Latest example of #inflation is my boots meal deal has gone up to £3.99. Must be down to #Brexit . #BrexitReality — pussy cat (@ashdown1981) 17 October 2017

The postcode lottery with @BootsUK Meal Deals is getting out of hand — Matt Dyson (@RealDysonator) 17 October 2017

A number of supermarket giants have a similar meal deal, which are popular with those grabbing lunch on the go - but still far more expensive than making your own sandwiches at home.

At Marks & Spencer, you can get a meal deal for £3.50, but the options are far more limited compared to the range at Boots.

Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco also have meal deals, all priced at £3 - as does bakery chain Greggs.