Sainsbury’s has rolled out new security measures across storesbal that require customers to scan their receipts before they can leave.
The barriers are located by the supermarket's self-service check outs and if customers want to leave without buying anything they need to ask a Sainsbury's security guard.
Customers started seeing the barriers in some Sainsbury's stores in December.
But now people have reported seeing the barriers in more Sainsbury's stores, including in Balham south London, Redhill in Surrey, Colne in Lancashire, and Winnersh in Berkshire.
According to Manchester Metropolitan University news publication Northern Quota, 25 Sainsbury's stores across Greater Manchester have these barriers installed.
Shoppers have taken to social media to voice their annoyance about the security measures, reports the Daily Mail.
One Twitter user @Jo_Rigby_Balham said the barriers put innocent customers "under suspicion of stealing" and it gave Sainsbury's stores "a bad consumer experience vibe".
Others described the move as "dystopian" and an "over the top" approach to shoplifting.
Another user @Sneakachu25 said the security measure was not great for the environment due to more people having to use more paper to simply get themselves out of the shop.
A Sainsbury's spokesperson told The Mirror that the barriers were just "one of a range of security measures" it has across its UK stores.
Although it did say that the barriers were not "new" to its stores.
It confirmed that "a small number" of stores have the barriers at their self service checkout areas - but would not confirm the number of stores with them.
It also would not confirm whether Sainsbury's was planning to roll out them out across more of its sites.
In a statement to Northern Quota, Sainsbury's Fallowfield told the publication the store had "one of the highest loss rates of stock in Manchester" and the barriers were now permanent.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s Fallowfield said: "Our rates of missing stock has increased recently, this means that items that have not been scanned through the self-checkout till or by a colleague, within the next financial year we hope to see if these measures help stop stock going lost through the doors.”
