Sainsbury's is preparing to trial a cycle delivery service with hundreds of thousands of customers living in Central London via its IOS Chop Chop App.

Chop Chop enables customers to order up to 20 items via the app and have them delivered by cycle within an hour for a flat fee of £4.99.

Following a small trial in the Wandsworth area, the retailer will add 35,699 more postcodes to the app from 28 September and begin operating the service from its Pimlico store.

Sainsbury’s has recruited a team of 40 shoppers and cyclists to run the service. As soon as an order is placed, Sainsbury’s staff in either its Wandsworth or Pimlico store will receive the information on an app and shop for the products. The order will then be delivered.

Customers pay via the app and can track their order. If a product is out of stock, the shopper will call the customer to ask if they want a substitute item.

Jon Rudoe, Sainsbury’s director of digital and technology, said: “This trial is part of our strategy to give our customers more options to shop with us whenever and wherever they want. Speed of delivery is important to some customers, so we have brought back our bicycle service to test demand further.

“If it proves popular we might introduce it to other areas of London. It complements our same day delivery service which is available at selected London postcodes through our online groceries service.”