Discount retailer Home Bargains is to introduce a new 'Aldi-inspired' traffic-light system to help control the number of shoppers in its branches across the UK.

Here's everything you need to know.

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What new system are Home Bargains rolling out?

The company hopes to use the traffic-light prompting system to ensure that customers socially distance inside all of its 550 stores.

Earlier this year, German-owned supermarket chain Aldi launched a similar system in their branches throughout the UK to keep staff and shoppers safe.

How will the new system work?

The new lights will be sensor-controlled and placed at the entrance and exit points of stores to monitor how many people are in the shop.

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Customers will be allowed to enter Home Bargains stores when the lights turn green.

Hitachi’s 3D LiDAR Motion Sensor system will be used, which can monitor, in real-time, the number of people shopping in-store.

In addition to people counting, the sophisticated sensor will also be able to track a customer’s journey around a store by 'directly detecting human shape and movement, identifying where they stopped and who they passed by'.

According to Retail Systems, the technology will monitor shoppers 'without privacy invasion, as unlike CCTV cameras, the sensor does not collect personal information'.

What have bosses of Home Bargains said about the move?

Joe Morris, of TJ Morris, the firm behind Home Bargains, said: "Over the past few months, retail environments have changed, and we’ve had to quickly adapt to new ways of operating.

"New, innovative technologies have played a significant part in us still being able to provide a safe and pleasant shopping experience for our customers."