Rumours of a bread price war in the national press were slightly exaggerated as two of the four big supermarket chains have already put up prices again.

Amid rising flour prices, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons all cut the price of their value own-brand loaves to 30p. However, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have now increased the price of their basic white loaves to 47p after a short-term promotional burst.

A Tesco spokesman insisted it was not a price war, and said: "This is just one of our many promotions as we are always looking to help customers save money."

Gordon Polson, director of the Federation of Bakers, said it was a marketing strategy that was not related to bread or wheat prices. "Supermarkets cut prices to entice customers in and they’ve chosen bread this time," he said.

Morrisons’ value loaves are still 30p, while Asda’s Smart Price white and brown loaves will stay at 30p for the foreseeable future, said a spokeswoman.