STAFF at supermarket group Asda are to pocket bonuses of up to £300 from the company's benefits scheme.

The payouts, totalling £13.7m, will be made on Friday after the company achieved a ten per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the year to January 31.

Asda said the average payout for a full-time employee would be £232, with staff at 158 of its 258 stores in line for a bonus of between £250 and £300.

The company, which is owned by US firm Wal-Mart, has now paid bonuses totalling £34.4m since introducing the scheme in 2000.

The average payout figure compares with £208 offered last year.

Director David Smith said: "It is our people that make the difference and we have always believed that they should share in the success of the business."

The announcement of the bonus payments, which apply to 100,000 staff, comes a day after Asda announced that average customer numbers had increased by 800,000 during 2002, to 9.4m per week.

The company has also pledged to create 3,900 jobs across the UK by the end of the year in a £360m expansion drive.

The company has received planning permission for seven branches, the relocation of three existing stores and the extension of five sites already in operation.