Tesco has confirmed that up to 9,000 employees are at risk of losing their jobs.

Following reports over the weekend than near 15,000 could be lost, the supermarket confirmed this afternoon that near 9,000 will be under the lens for axing.

These jobs will be cut from head office and across stores, as part of efforts to 'simplify' the business.

Tesco said it expected around half of the affected employees could be redeployed to new roles.

Changes across the business will include a reduction in deli counters, with 90 stores set to lose the service altogether.

It is not yet known whether any in East Anglia will be affected.

In addition to those directly employed by Tesco, the changes will also impact third-party caterers as the company replaces the hot food service in its staff rooms with self-service kitchens.

Jason Tarry, CEO of Tesco UK and Ireland, said: '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.'

Additional changes include reduced hours dedicated to both stock control and merchandising.