THE family-owned North-East convenience store group Bells Stores has been snapped up by Sainsbury's.

The 54-strong chain will give the national supermarket group a larger slice of the convenience store market.

The deal is expected to cost up to £22m which will provide a windfall for the Bell family, which founded the group in 1968.

Although Sainsbury's has bought Bells, its existing management team will continue to run the chain, which will retain the Bells brand and its head office in Skelton, near Middlesbrough.

Joint managing director Steven Bell said the move would give the firm access to Sainsbury's product range and financial backing to continue developing the business.

"We are delighted we have been able to secure a deal with Sainsbury's that enables us to continue to run our business on the same strong foundations developed over the 35 years," he said.

Bells' convenience stores in Teesside, Co Durham, Wearside and Tyneside are predominantly in neighbourhood locations and are typically around 2,000 square feet in size.

The group has annual turnover of about £56m and profits before interest, tax and goodwill of £1m.

The move will boost Sainsbury's presence in the £21.5bn a year UK convenience market.

The supermarket currently has 66 Sainsbury Local stores of its own and a further 15 in partnership with Shell.

Last summer, it announced plans to extend the joint fuel and convenience store operation to 100 Shell sites across the UK.

Once this plan has been rolled out, Sainsbury's will have around 220 convenience stores, including today's acquisition.

Sainsbury's chief executive Sir Peter Davis said: "This acquisition delivers a highly respected management team and a successful neighbourhood format, strengthening our ability to grow our presence in the convenience market."

The move marks the latest stage in the consolidation of the the convenience store sector.