Sainsbury's is the latest company to introduce cheque ban

Cheques edged closer to extinction today as Sainsbury's geared up to ban them from its tills.

The supermarket chain will not accept cheques as payment in any of its UK stores from August 1.

It said the move came in response to a "steady decline" in their use.

Sainsbury's follows rival supermarket chain Morrisons, which stopped accepting cheques in all its stores last week.

Morrisons said the launch of chip and pin payment had caused a "significant reduction" in the amount of cheques presented at its tills.

Asda, Boots and Shell are among the other retailers which have also stopped accepting cheques from all their UK outlets.

Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket, has made a small number of its stores cheque-free to test customer feedback.

A Sainsbury's spokesman apologised for any inconvenience caused, saying: "Over the last few years, the use of cheques has been in steady decline.

"As a result, cheques account for a lower percentage of our takings and we have taken the decision that as of the 1st of August, we will no longer accept them at our tills."

The first fully-printed cheques were introduced in the early 1700s followed by the first personalised printed cheques in 1810.