ASDA will extend its one-hour express delivery service to a second branch in Dorset following a successful trial launched in the summer.

A trial for the service was initially held in a small number of stores, including West Quay Road in Poole. 

It will now be rolled out to 96 branches across the country including Castlepoint. 

The service gives customers access to Asda’s full online range of more than 30,000 grocery products for delivery within the hour if they live within a three-mile radius of a store in the scheme and order up to 70 items.

But the cost for each delivery will be £8.50 regardless of how many items are ordered.

A trial in stores in Halifax, Poole, Rotherham and St Matthews, Walsall in June exceeded bosses’ expectations, with the number of initial orders higher than predicted.

Simon Gregg, Asda’s vice president of online grocery, said: “We are rolling out our express delivery service to almost 100 stores after a trial showed there was a clear gap in the market for a speedy delivery service offering our full online product range for delivery within one hour.

"As the only grocer to offer this service, we have seen a significant number of customers access this option, with slots regularly selling out at our pilot stores.”

He also pointed out that Asda recently announced a partnership with the tech firm Wayve to test driverless vans.

Rivals including Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s already offer one-hour – or faster – delivery services through Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Amazon and other providers – although none offer a full range of products.

Most UK supermarkets are looking into ways in which they can get groceries to customers more quickly.

Tesco, which had previously not offered a rapid delivery service, launched its own trial, called Whoosh, in Wolverhampton and has plans to expand it.

Sainsbury’s also operates its own service, called Chop Chop, which it expanded to 50 stores in 20 cities last year.

Waitrose announced plans to shut down its own rapid delivery service, which it launched in 2018, saying it would instead focus on expanding its partnership with Deliveroo.

Morrisons offers same-day rapid deliveries as part of its tie-up with Amazon, which also offers customers its own Amazon Fresh products.

Other delivery firms in the grocery market include Gorillas, Getir and Fink, which have all raised significant sums of money from investors looking to cash in on the growing industry.