MORE than 50 new jobs have been created in Minehead with the takeover of the town's Somerfield supermarket by Tesco Stores Ltd.

Tesco will reopen the Seaward Way store on Monday after a six-week refit following the purchase from financially-troubled Somerfield plc.

There will be 52 more employees in the new-look store and petrol filling station in addition to the 142 workers whose jobs were retained by Tesco.

The premises will remain as they were under Somerfield apart from new signing and the own-brand goods.

The supermarket will offer a similar range of products and will have the same facilities and hours of opening as before.

Monday's official opening ceremony will be performed by Minehead Chamber of Commerce chairman Mike Padgett, after Tesco discovered it was his birthday.

The Minehead store was one of 46 nationally to be disposed of by Somerfield in a £309 million deal involving 11 different buyers.

• A revamp for Minehead's town centre Kwik Save supermarket to turn it into a Somerfield store has been postponed following the appointment of new chief executive Alan Smith.

Mr Smith cancelled an earlier decision to sell 350 Kwik Save premises and to convert another 400 to the Somerfield fascia.

Now, only 50 stores will undergo the transformation and their identity will not be disclosed for several weeks.

Somerfield will retain the Kwik Save name with the chain separately operated by new managing director Simon Hughes.