Tesco has confirmed that up to 9,000 jobs are at risk at its head office and in stores as part of efforts to simplify the business.

Tesco cited a "competitive and challenging market" when explaining the cuts.

Jason Tarry, the UK and Ireland chief executive, added: "In our four years of turnaround we've made good progress, but the market is challenging and we need to continually adapt to remain competitive and respond to how customers want to shop.

"We're making changes to our UK stores and head office to simplify what we do and how we do it, so we're better able to meet the needs of our customers.

"This will impact some of our colleagues and our commitment is to minimise this as much as possible and support our colleagues throughout."