Tesco says it has made �1.3bn in price cuts since 1998

Tesco will unveil a �70m package of cuts, on more than 600 products, across its UK stores from Monday.

The reductions will cover products in all areas but focus particularly on health, beauty and baby products like toothpaste, medicines, and baby wipes.

After extending its sales gap over rivals Safeway and Sainsbury, Tesco is now turning its attention to Boots.

Tesco says the cuts will be of an average of 8% on each of the 600 items.

Baby products

Boots is in the middle of a shake-up of its structure as a means of reviving its fortunes, including a programme of job cuts and modernising its information technology.

The High Street chain is seeking to revive its fortunes after an unsuccessful foray into alternative therapies and beauty-only stores.

A Tesco spokesman told BBC News Online that families shopping for a basket of 12 baby products, including items like baby powder and rusks, could save 11% in its stores compared to Boots.

Tesco director Tim Mason said the group had invested more than �1.3bn in price cuts during the last six years.

Tesco is now estimated to have a UK market share of around 27%.

It had expressed an interest in bidding last year for Safeway, which was eventually snapped up by Bradford-based Wm Morrison, but was barred from doing so on competition grounds.