Waitrose is training up shop assistants to become "health food police" who will patrol aisles and steer shoppers away from junk food.

The move will be rolled out at dozens of stores across the UK this year, and is designed to encourage shoppers to load their trolleys with healthy options including Waitrose's new 'Good Health' range of food.

It comes as half of shoppers admitted that they didn’t feel on top of their health in a survey, with a third saying they didn’t have enough time to focus on their health.

Once trained up by qualified nutritionists, shop assistants will advise and direct customers who ask towards healthier choices on the shop floor free of charge.

For example a shopper deciding on a meal to cook for supper might be advised to buy quinoa instead of rice, Waitrose said.