LEADING supermarket group Tesco was this week said to have bought Minehead's Somerfield store in a deal which would save its 145 full and part-time jobs.

The move by Tesco Stores Ltd was predicted by the Free Press last November, when troubled Somerfield plc decided to sell 144 supermarkets nationwide.

Neither company was this week prepared to confirm the deal, estimated at around £5 million.

Tesco spokesman Andy Kirkham told the Free Press the company was prevented by legal requirements from making any comment.

"We are not confirming or denying if we have bought any stores or where they are," he said.

Tesco has made several unsuccessful attempts to find a site in Minehead in the past six years.

Somerfield spokesman Alison Birkett confirmed to the Free Press the Minehead store was among 45 for which a sale had been agreed at a total value of £305 million.

Miss Birkett said not all of the supermarkets were being sold to the same buyer, and the identity of purchasers of any individual store could not be revealed until an extraordinary meeting of Somerfield shareholders was held next month to ask for approval of the deals.

However, Tesco was named among 11 different companies which intended to buy property from Somerfield.

The others included Asda Stores, Co-Operative Wholesale Society, Lidl UK, J. Sainsbury, and Waitrose.

Miss Birkett said: "The store staff do know because they are our first priority."

She also confirmed Minehead's town centre Kwik Save supermarket would be converted to the Somerfield fascia later this year.

The change would happen during the summer, although there was not yet a precise date for the switch.

Somerfield's hand was forced by a falling share of the food retailing market after its purchase of Kwik Save.

The company prepared a new strategy to reposition itself in the market by concentrating on "neighbourhood food retailing."

But Somerfield's half-year financial results released last week showed further deterioration for the group.

Half-year operating profits were down from £121.3 million to £79.4 million and turnover fell by 7.2 per cent.

Chief executive David Simons said: "After four years of consistently improving earnings, the last nine months have been particularly difficult.

"A combination of increased market competitiveness and internally-created problems have resulted in a sharp decline in both sales and profits.

"However, the strategy we have set identifies a clear market position in which we intend to be a major player."

Mr Simons said the company's strategic review announced in November involved the disposal of those larger stores which did not fit into the strategy and those Kwik Save supermarkets which would not convert to the Somerfield fascia.

"This will enable us to concentrate on our core strengths of serving those customers who prefer shopping in smaller local shops for their top-up and everyday needs," he said.

Mr Simons said Somerfield had also introduced a policy of supporting local producers and providing customers with greater choice.

He said: "We have undertaken a localness initiative in stores for which local suppliers are used to source specific product lines.

"This initiative has proved particularly successful within the South West region, and consequently our roll-out programme for the rest of the country has been accelerated."