Tesco refuses to confirm if stores in Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire to be closed

The store chain announced the closure plans across the UK today, saying a significant proportion would be local convenience stores.

A spokesman for the firm said: ““We have taken the difficult decision to close 43 of our stores. Our first priority is to consult colleagues who are impacted by these changes and we will be speaking to them over the coming weeks.”

Tesco is closing its staff defined pension scheme and will not now open 49 new “very large” stores, in cuts totalling £250 million.

The firm has recently been involved in an accounting scandal which has seen senior executives leave.

The retailer, Britain’s biggest supermarket has had an improved performance over the seasonal period with sales down 0.3 per cent on last year, up 0.1 per cent including fuel sales.

Sales over the past 19 weeks were down 2.9 per cent.