‘Rinse them dry’ scream Asda shoppers clearing shelves of Cathedral City cheese scanning at tills for just £1.31

ASDA shoppers are clearing the shelves of big brand cheese which is scanning at tills with a huge discount.

Cathedral City will usually set you back at least £3, and some supermarkets charge as much as £4.50 for the dairy essential.

But Asda is selling the 350g cheddar for only £1.45 and shoppers are snapping up the bargain buy.

"Just got three blocks from my local Asda Salford, now thinking I might go back for more as it won't last that long," said one.

Another said they got "got a dozen slabs" and a third added "I cleared the shelf of the extra mature!".

"Don’t think I’ve ever bought as cheap as this," declared another, while one shopper urged others to "rinse them dry".

Several customers have also discovered an extra saving on top, sharing the find on the HotUKDeals website, bringing the price down by a further 10% to just £1.31.

Anyone using the Asda Rewards loyalty scheme can get 15p back when buying the item, which is added to their cashpot.

That's a saving of 69% overall on the usual Asda price of £4.25.

The deal is available online when shopping at Asda and in store, though some have reported not spotting it in their local branch.

But one helpful bargain hunter said helpfully that in theirs it was "marked at full price but went through at the reduced price at the checkout".

One way to check the price before you head to the till is by using the Asda Scan and Go handset or app.

Some stores have this so you can scan as you go and they pay rather than having to queue at tills, but it can also be used to check prices.

It could be worth calling ahead to ask if the deal is on at your local store to save a wasted trip.

You can find your nearest branch by using the store locator tool on the Asda website, just enter your postcode.

The price of cheese has rocketed in the cost of living crisis, hitting an all-time high of £9.70 per kg on average in May, according to official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

That's up from £6.59 a year earlier - a rise of nearly 50%.

Prices remain high at £9.06 per kg the ONS's latest data shows.

The Cathedral City deal at Asda means shoppers are paying just £4.14 per kg, or slightly less with the Asda Rewards on top.

The Cathedral City is also cheaper than Asda's cheapest own brand cheese.

A 400g block of Just Essentials is £2.55, or 6.38 per kg.

The next cheapest price is £2.99 for the 350g pack at Aldi and Tesco and £3 at Morrisons, according to price comparison site Trolley.

Anyone after the deal might want to act quickly though, as it's not clear how long it will stick around.

The mildest version of the cheese is out of stock online, though you can still get mature.

One bargain hunter said: "From memory, the last time Asda had it at this price it was only for 24 hours - maybe closer to 12."

We've asked Asda how long the deal will be on and will update when we hear back.

While it's harder to bulk buy chilled food because it's unlikely to last too long, several shoppers also report that the date on the cheese is until March.

Hard cheeses like cheddar are perfectly good to eat after the best before date, though.

You can cut any surface mould off of hard cheeses and eat the rest safely if it's free from mould.

But this is not recommended for soft dairy products like goat's cheese.

According to Too Good To Go, spores from mould often pass through soft cheese quite quickly.

Cheese can be stored in the freezer, but it's best to grate it first.

Then you can easily add on top of dishes like Lasagne if you store it in a freezer bag or reusable container.

“It may be surprising that you can freeze eggs and dairy foods such as milk and cheese really well,” Lauren Woodley, group nutrition leader at Nomad Foods, which makes the Birds Eye range, previously told The Sun.

“This is great to know if you’re going away on holiday and want some milk ready to defrost on your arrival home."

Milk is among the most wasted food items.

Divide milk into small quantities and freeze before the “use by” date. Defrost in the fridge and use up in 24 hours.

You can even pop it in ice cube trays, then you can add it straight to the pan if making a bechamel sauce, or a cup of hot tea.

To freeze eggs, crack them into an airtight container, blend lightly and freeze.

You must break them and freeze in pots, as they will expand in the shell during the freezing process.

You'll need to eat them within four months.