A £385m expansion programme at the Asda supermarket group created 1,790 more jobs than expected, the company said.

Wal-Mart owned Asda planned to recruit 3,900 staff.

Wal-Mart also reported a year-on-year increase of 16 per cent in sales at its international division to £6.87bn in the third quarter.

Asda, which accounts for about half this business, saw its sales rise about 11 per cent in the period with a like-for-like increase in the "high single digits", fuelled by more shoppers using its stores.

Asda employs 122,000 staff at 265 sites across the UK. The new employees join 10,000 temporary workers who learned in October they would be given permanent contracts entitling them to benefits such as store discount cards.