THE rise of shopping apps for supermarket giants like Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury's could mean the end of checkout tills.

M&S have become the latest to test out an app which would save shoppers having to go through a checkout to pay.

The app, called Mobile, Pay, Go, scans the barcodes of items before customers pay through it and simply walk out of the store.

Other similar trials were launched in shops this year, with relative success.

Jim Cruickshank, global head of digital product and UX at Marks & Spencer, said: “Mobile Pay Go is one of many new initiatives we're developing as part of our digital transformation, with agile and lean practices at the core of our approach.

"We’ve worked hard to deliver the fastest and most friction-free customer experience possible.”

M&S is already trialling the app in six London stores ahead of Christmas.

Customers at Edgware Road and Waterside (M&S’ Paddington HQ) Simply Food can give it a go, with the service also rolling out to West Hampstead, Bankside, Canary Wharf and Stratford Westfield.

However only food can be bought within a £30 limit - so anyone wanting to buy booze will still have to go up to the till.

Shopper Jean, told the BBC: "I probably wouldn't use it because I do my own self-scanning and I don't like to give my bank account details out left, right and centre."

Whereas Vicky Harvey said: "I guess it's up to M&S to decide if they've got their security sorted.

"I'm not so worried about data because the stuff's already on my phone. And if I haven't protected it already I'm doomed."

Retail anylist thinks the app system could become the norm in shops across the UK in the future.

Natalie Berg said it will in effect level the playing field between the high street and online retailers, as high street stores have to modernise to keep up.

Shoppers can already skip queues in big supermarket stores using a portable bar code scanner or their phone to log items as they put them in their basket. Customers can then pay at a specialist checkout.

The idea is to save shoppers time queuing to unload their shopping and reload it again after it has been scanned at the till.

Amazon have already been trialling this type of cashier-free shopping since opening a convenience store in Seattle, called Amazon Go last December.