A SUPERMARKET chain plans to recruit 250 staff in time for Christmas.

Tesco announced yesterday that it plans to create the jobs at its nine North-East stores.

It will recruit 60 permanent and 190 seasonal workers to cover the Christmas period. On average, each store will receive seven new staff to keep shelves stocked 24 hours a day.

The new jobs are part of a programme to take on 17,000 workers nationwide.

Out of a total of 5,000 permanent and 12,000 temporary staff, 8,000 will be parents, 5,000 over 50 and 4,000 students.

Tesco retail director David Potts said: "Our stores are busier than ever before and we want to make sure that our customers get the best possible service.

"So we're putting record numbers of people on the shop floor to help customers in the run-up to Christmas and beyond."

Tesco has more than 200,000 staff, and actively recruits older people, students and parents - many of whom require part-time work and flexible hours.

In addition to its existing stores in the region, it plans to build others in Chester-le-Street and on the former Vaux brewery site in Sunderland.

Its superstore in Durham, which recently celebrated its first anniversary, was built as part of the Dragonville Partnership to tackle local unemployment.