Bar code error scanner

A bar code error scanner (10) scans printed bar codes (12) comprising bars (12a) and spaces (12b) of varying widths which are multiples of a minimum width module. The scanner obtains a bar code signature (20s) indicative of a sequence of characters. If the printing of the bar code is faulty adjoining bars and spaces will include fractions of the minimum width module. An error detector (22a) detects such fractional widths and an error corrector (22c) adjusts the bar signature by increasing the width of the adjoining bar and decreasing the width of the adjoining space to correct for the faulty printing. The corrected bar code signature (22a) is then decoded in a decoder (22). An error log (22b) may be provided in which multiple scans are stored to accumulate the errors and ensure their verification. A subsequent scan can then be compared with the log to obtain a match.