Gosh, you know the news-free zone that is the British summer is well and truly upon us when the BBC comes up with this, the most patronising piece of infotainment I’ve seen in months.

Presenter Tazeen Ahmad spent six months working undercover as…wait for it… a checkout assistant. How’s that for cutting edge journalism? In this chat with BBC Breakfast anchors Bill Turnbull and Susanna Reid, she spills all on what she learned during her stint at the tills – and it’s shocking stuff: how people chatted to her when they reached for their purses; how she learned about colleagues and their lives; how people, well, bought things…

Wow, sounds just like a normal job, though one suspects Tazeen may not have had one of those before. Checking out her biog, I see Tazeen graduated from University with a 2:1 in communication studies. ‘Nuff said.

Here’s Tazeen chatting about her investigation: Life as a secret checkout worker.

Written by Adrian Beeby