Discount retailer Home Bargains have introduced a new 'Aldi-inspired' traffic-light system to help control the number of shoppers in its branches, including in Cornwall.

The company hopes the traffic-light prompting system will ensure that customers socially distance inside all of its 550 stores nationwide.

This includes branches in Truro, Hayle and Bodmin. 

Earlier this year, German-owned supermarket chain Aldi launched a similar system in their branches throughout the UK to keep staff and shoppers safe.

The new lights are sensor-controlled and placed at the entrance and exit points of stores to monitor how many people are in the shop.

Customers will be allowed to enter Home Bargains stores when the lights turn green.

Hitachi’s 3D LiDAR Motion Sensor system will be used, which can monitor, in real-time, the number of people shopping in-store.

In addition to people counting, the sophisticated sensor will also be able to track a customer’s journey around a store by 'directly detecting human shape and movement, identifying where they stopped and who they passed by'.

According to Retail Systems, the technology will monitor shoppers 'without privacy invasion, as unlike CCTV cameras, the sensor does not collect personal information'.

Joe Morris, of TJ Morris, the firm behind Home Bargains, said: "Over the past few months, retail environments have changed, and we’ve had to quickly adapt to new ways of operating.

"New, innovative technologies have played a significant part in us still being able to provide a safe and pleasant shopping experience for our customers."