HIGH STREET retailer Boots is to create 300 jobs and is transferring 600 workers to another company.

The chemist, which cut 900 jobs at its head office in Nottingham earlier this month, said the posts would be a mixture of full and part-time roles in its logistics operation to cope with extra work, including extra working hours and more frequent deliveries to stores.

Boots will also transfer 600 warehouse staff to Unipart on April 1.

Paul Bateman, Boots group operations director, said: "The announcement is about our stores always having what the customer wants when they want it.

"It is about us improving what we do in our warehouses and stock management processes to reduce the need for large amounts of spare stock held in our shops."

Mr Bateman said the move was part of the company's aim to make it more efficient and competitive.

John Hannett, general secretary elect of the shopworkers union Usdaw, said: "The transfer of jobs from Boots to Unipart must be handled in a way that does not have a negative impact on the workers."