Prices at Tesco's planned new stores on the Isle of Man will be similar to those at its UK supermarkets, the retailer has confirmed.

Earlier today, the Isle of Man's Shoprite chain announced it had agreed to sell all nine of its stores to Tesco.

The sale means the number of Tesco stores in the island will be increased to 10, including its existing store in Douglas.

The stores in question will remain trading as Shoprite during a 'transition period' and will be rebranded to Tesco over the next nine months.

And supermarket giant Tesco has now confirmed that product prices will remain in-line with those at its UK supermarkets - with a 'small fee' added to cover transportation costs to the Isle of Man.

It is expected the product pricing system will be similar, if not identical, to the one currently employed by the business at its store in Douglas.

Jason Tarry, Tesco UK chief executive officer, said: 'I am really pleased that we’ve reached this agreement with Shoprite.

'Deryck and Kevin Nicholson and the team at Shoprite have built a fantastic business over many years and we look forward to welcoming Shoprite’s store colleagues and customers to Tesco.

'Our priority is to deliver for Manx customers the fantastic value that we deliver for all of our customers.

'We will now be engaging with suppliers and the wider community in the Isle of Man, many of whom we know well as Tesco has been operating locally for 23 years.'

The sale means the number of Tesco stores in the island will be increased to 10, including its existing store in Douglas.

Yet, Enterprise Minister, Tim Johnston, says that the buyout means that a number of Shoprite jobs will be at risk.