Chocoholics cashed in on a Tesco computer glitch buying Terry’s Chocolate Oranges in their hundreds after the supermarket accidentally sold them for just 29p.
An error at the till points applied a double discount to the products, which usually retail for £2.75, enabling customers to snap them up for a tenth of the price.
Ecstatic shoppers bought in bulk, with one filling his trolley with 192 sweet treats for £57, saving an incredible £471.
The glitch sparked an internet craze as triumphant customers posted pictures of their goodies and receipts on a Facebook tribute page, ‘Terry’s Chocolate orange glitch – I was there.’
Creative bargain hunters even uploaded photos of their chocolate stashes shaped as rabbits and spelling out the words ‘Tesco’ and ‘Yay’.
One chuffed consumer said he had “only bought 42” and added: “I wish I asked for more, but then I'd be worried I would be banned having bought all their stock!”
The rush was sparked by an error which combined a ‘three-for-£5’ discount with a ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ offer when the items were bought in multiples of six.
The buy-one-get-one-free offer allowed customers to buy a chocolate orange for £1.375. The three-for-£5 deal saved shoppers £3.25.
To buy six oranges should have cost £16.50, but with the double discount, the price is a mere £1.75 – just over 29p each.
The glitch is thought to have affected all stores except the Express outlets, however Tesco refused to say how many oranges had been sold or how much the error had cost the company.
A spokeswoman said: “We deal with 35,000-40,000 products, so sometimes these things happen.
“We are putting steps in place to make sure that it does not happen again.”