The BBC that Tesco blamed the error on an IT problem. The problem had caused the Black 64GB Wi-Fi + 4G new iPad to show up at the low price on the Tesco website for several hours last night.

News of the apparent bargain spread quickly on Twitter, with many claiming that they had placed an order and were interested to see what would happen.

However, Tesco's terms and conditions are pretty clear. "If, by mistake, we have under priced an item, we will not be liable to supply that item to you at the stated price, provided that we notify you before we despatch the item to you.

"In those circumstances, we will notify the correct price to you so you can decide whether or not you wish to order the item at that price."

Tesco said that customers who had placed an order would not have had any money taken from their account. It did not say how many people had tried to order the bargain iPad.