SCORES of workers face an anxious future as beleaguered supermarket Morrisons closes stores in the region.

The company plans to shut a shop in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, and axe an outlet in Shildon, County Durham.

The moves form part of wider proposals to close 11 stores, as the struggling firm pares back on poorer performing bases to address a shattering profits slump.

The company refused to comment when asked by The Northern Echo if it plans to shut more North-East shops.

Morrisons also would not confirm how many people will be hit at the two stores, or give any date for the closures, but The Northern Echo understands about 70 staff will be affected at Northallerton.

Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman revealed she has written to Morrisons chief executive David Potts urging him to save the Shildon store.

Morrisons' plans for Northallerton stand as another blow for the town's employment landscape, which was rocked earlier this year when Homebase announced its closure and fellow DIY firm B&Q revealed it will shut next year.

The town also previously lost 350 jobs at the Rural Payments Agency offices and a further 135 posts following the closure of Northallerton Prison.

As well as Morrisons, Northallerton has Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores, but town mayor, Councillor John Forrest, said the Bradford-headquartered business’ proposals would have a major impact on the town centre.

He also expressed sorrow at workers’ plight, adding he hoped staff could be offered roles through existing vacancies at Morrisons stores.

He added: “I’m very disappointed in the decision to close the store.

“Morrisons have done their homework and don’t think it’s viable, and I wish them the best of luck in the future.

“There is a bit of doom and gloom, and I hope now that someone else can come in.”

Morrisons is shutting supermarkets, particularly smaller-sized stores, as it looks to regroup after seeing pre-tax half-year profits drop 47 per cent to £126m.

However, Ms Goodman said losing a Shildon store would cause significant damage to the local community.

She added: "This announcement is terrible news for Shildon, and it will leave the town with no major supermarket.

"While I understand that businesses have to make their own business decisions, I also believe our major supermarkets making hundreds of millions of pounds of profit have a social responsibility to communities."

Morrisons is also selling 140 of its M local convenience stores for about £25m to concentrate on its larger supermarkets.

Referring to the Northallerton closure, a Morrisons spokeswoman said: “We have looked extremely carefully at whether our store in Northallerton can be turned around but unfortunately we cannot see a way of making it viable.

“We are therefore proposing its closure.

“We are consulting with colleagues and unions and we will be discussing how to reduce redundancies and redeploy colleagues around our business.”