Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket, has stopped selling 12 lines of Hovis products after the brand's owner, Premier Foods, raised prices due to wheat costs.

Hovis, the UK's second-largest bread brand behind Warburtons, alerted Tesco to the need for further price hikes two weeks ago, according to British Baker magazine.

Tesco subsequently de-listed the lines, which include Original Granary and Best of Both, after Premier sought to pass the price hikes on to consumers.

Wheat prices are currently more than 50 per cent higher than 12 months ago [Mintec] owing to factors such as the wildfires and droughts in Russia.

"We cannot comment on our commercial agreements with suppliers," said a Tesco spokesman. "We always look to provide our customers with great-value bread."

A spokesman for Premier Foods said: "The record rise in the price of wheat earlier this year was widely reported.

The scale of this rise made it necessary for price increases to be passed on to retailers.

"While we don't comment on our agreements with individual retailers, we can say that we continue to supply Hovis to Tesco and they remain one of our most important customers."

The news comes amid mounting speculation that Premier could be forced to sell off the Hovis brand to reduce its billion-pound debt. The manufacturer is already hunting for buyers for its £200m meat-free business, which includes the market-leading Quorn brand.