MORRISONS has revealed 1,300 workers are at risk as part of proposals to shut 132 McColl's stores.

The Bradford-based supermarket giant bought McColl's earlier this year, after the 1,100-convenience store chain fell into administration.

A Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation was conducted before the £190 million deal could be completed, which weighed up whether the buyout would cause competition concerns in local areas.

The investigation found there would only be issues in a small number of areas and the CMA said that the overall deal “would not harm the vast majority of shoppers or other businesses", paving the way for the deal to be completed.

Morrisons has today released its plans for the business moving forward, now the acquisition has officially gone through.

Part of this is closing a number of stores, for two main reasons.

Firstly, Morrisons has revealed that many of the McColl's stores have been loss-making for some time.

The supermarket giant said some of them will be able to return to profitability over time but for 132 stores, there is no realistic prospect of achieving a breakeven position in the medium term.

Morrisons has taken the decision to close the majority of these shops over the remainder of the year.

A spokesperson for Morrisons said: "Regrettably this means that around 1,300 McColl’s colleagues will be placed at risk of redundancy.

"Every affected colleague however will be offered alternative employment at a nearby McColl’s store, Morrisons store, logistics operation or foodmaking centre."

There is a Post Office counter in 55 of the 132 McColl's stores that are set to shut.

Morrisons has decided to delay their closure until next year, so they can serve their communities through Christmas and allow the Post Office additional time to make alternative arrangements. 

The firm is working with the Post Office to see if nearby McColl’s or Morrisons stores could be part of the solution and are currently looking at a number of potential stores for replacement Post Office counters.  

A further 28 McColl's stores will be sold in order to overcome competition concerns in specific areas, found during the CMA investigation.

A spokesperson for Morrisons said: "There are no further store closures currently being considered but we remain in discussions with a number of landlords of challenged stores."

The plans also include converting the majority of the McColl's stores into Morrisons Dailys, as the business found this delivers an immediate average like-for-like sales improvement of over 20 per cent.

There are 286 stores which have already been converted but Morrisons hopes to take this figure over 1,000 within two years.