Lidl has announced it is going to remove cartoon characters from its own-brand cereal boxes in the UK, saying they want to 'alleviate some of the pressure' parents face while shopping with children.

The supermarket says it has found three-quarters of parents buy certain foods because of pressure from children while shopping.

Cartoon characters will be removed from the retailer's Crownfield range of cereals, such as Choco Rice and Frosted Flakes.

Georgina Hall, Lidl UK's head of corporate social responsibility, explained: "We want to help parents across Britain make healthy and informed choices about the food they buy for their children.

“We know pester power can cause difficult battles on the shop floor and we’re hoping that removing cartoon characters from cereal packaging will alleviate some of the pressure parents are under."

The charity Action on Sugar says it "fully applauds" the change, which will come in by spring.

A number of popular breakfast cereals contain high levels of sugar, and are often advertised and branded using cartoon characters.

In a report published in 2018, a group of British MPs called for a ban on such characters being used to "promote high fat, sugar and salt products".