THE price of groceries would rise under independence, pro-UK campaigners have claimed, after a leading supermarket boss admitted his company faced higher costs doing business in Scotland.

Justin King, the chief executive of Sainsbury's, said: "Once it is a separate country, we and other retailers will take a view of what the cost structure is of that industry, and of course the revenue structure too.

"If you were to strike that today, there is no doubt Scotland is a more costly country [in which] to run a grocery retail business."

A spokesman for the Better Together campaign said: "As things stand Scots shoppers don't know what currency they will be using when they pay for their weekly shop but they do know that it will become more expensive.

"When Asda and Morrisons predicted higher prices in a separate Scotland the SNP attacked them.

"Now that Sainsbury's have added their voice it is clear that price rises at the till to pay for independence are a very real prospect."

Writing in The Herald last year, Asda chief executive Andy Clarke said a separate Scottish business would have to be established in the event of a Yes vote and warned the new company would lose economies of scale and face higher costs.

However, he stressed Asda would continue to operate in an independent Scotland and insisted prices would not automatically have to rise.

A spokesman for Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "Asda and Morrisons have both said that they have no plans to increase prices."