AROUND 100 permanent jobs across the North-East and North Yorkshire are set to be created by supermarket giant Asda as part of its recruitment programme to deal with the Christmas rush.

The announcement was made as part of a nationwide programme by the group which will see 5,000 temporary workers employed in time for Christmas

The new recruits in Asda's 24 stores from Benton in Newcastle down to York will see an average of 20 staff, from porters to packers, taken on at each supermarket.

They will be in addition to an extra 4,500 permanent store colleagues that have started working at Asda since this time last year.

Although the new jobs are temporary, Asda said it expected many of the new recruits to stay on permanently in the New Year.

A spokeswoman for Asda said: "We're planning to employ around 20 staff at each store as part of our Christmas recruitment programme.

"Last year because of the Millennium factor, we took on 10,000 temporary staff, and of those we kept on more than 1,500, and we would be looking for a similar return this time."

If the supermarket repeats its successes in the run-up to Christmas 1999, then 100 of those jobs will become permanent in the region.

The Christmas positions are available from mid-November to January 2001.

The news is likely to lead to a flood of applications for the posts. When the group opened a new £4m store in Darlington in April they were swamped with 3,000 job applications for just 120 jobs.

lLast month Asda's won a controversial battle for planning permission for a new superstore in Bishop Auckland which will create 180 jobs, after environment Secretary John Prescott gave his conditional approval to the project.

It is expected to herald a revival for the town and encourage much-needed business investment.