BATTLELINES were last night being drawn in the region as a convenience store war hotted up between two of Britain's biggest supermarkets.

After Sainsbury's gained a major foothold in the North-East convenience market with the purchase of Bells Stores earlier this year, Tesco yesterday announced the opening of a Tesco Express store in Middlesbrough - the heartland of Bells Stores.

Sainsbury's also acquired North Yorkshire chain Jacksons Stores' 114 shops this week.

The new Tesco Express store in Middlesbrough is part of a drive to compete with its rivals in the convenience market, which is widely seen as the future of retail.

A Tesco spokesman last night confirmed that the supermarket was likely to be opening many more convenience outlets across the North-East.

Nationally, Tesco is changing 450 One Stop shops - the convenience chain it bought last year - into Tesco Express stores.

Analysts predict that the North-East will be a major expansion target for Tesco, as it was when Sainsbury's acquired Bells.

The Tesco spokesman said: "The situation is that people's lives are changing so people are shopping in convenience stores more than they ever have before.

"More people are single, more people shop in towns, and there are more people who just like picking up a bit of top-up shopping on their way home from work.

"The retail landscape is changing. We introduced Tesco Express some years ago and customers told us they loved it so much we are trying to bring it to more communities so people can have the range and prices they do in the supermarkets.

"We are rolling Tesco Express out across the country so people in the North-East can expect a Tesco Express in their neighbourhood."

Middlesbrough's store will open in Parliament Road on October 4, replacing a One Stop store.

Tesco has taken on the staff from the One Stop store and is planning to recruit more in the coming weeks.

This week, convenience store owners called for a meeting with competition authorities amid fears they could be forced out of business by the supermarkets.

Mills Group, which has 84 outlets across the North-East, has also been identified as a possible acquisition target.

The convenience market is seen as a major growth area, and is thought to be worth about £23bn a year.