HUNDREDS of jobs have been safeguarded after Sainsbury's sold its Stockton Savacentre store to rival supermarket chain Tesco.

All 350 full and part-time employees at the Durham Road store, which closes on June 7, will be offered jobs with Tesco.

The store manager will remain with Sainsbury's.

The sale completion is scheduled for June 11, when Tesco will begin re-branding and fitting out. It will re-open as a Tesco Extra after a short period of closure.

Jane Holland, a regional organiser with the shop workers' union, USDAW, said: "We are pleased that jobs are being saved, and we have excellent working relations with Tesco.

"We are looking forward to increasing the membership in the store. We have some representatives in the store and they are keeping me up to date.

"Tesco are forward thinking. The majority of our members are part-time and female with caring responsibilities, and the fact that Tesco have very flexible working in order to keep staff is of great benefit.''

A Tesco spokesman said: "We have been looking for a suitable site in Stockton for a long time. We are delighted we could do this and not have to start with a completely flat site.

"We are delighted to have 350 well trained and professional staff on site."

Kevin Plant, regional business manager for Sainsbury's said: "The company has tried hard to keep the store open, even though sales have been declining over a number of years and the store has been under review.

"Despite looking at numerous ways of improving the store to suit the customer, we have taken the difficult decision to sell to another supermarket chain."

The store was built for the Co-op and was opened by Princess Anne.

Sainsbury's bought it from the Co-op and started trading in 1995.