Bradford supermarket chain Morrisons today officially put its bid on the table for Safeway and said to shareholders: "Back us, its in your best interests."

The company told both its shareholders and those of Safeway that it was pressing ahead with its bid, which is worth around £2.6 billion in shares and cash, and it was the only formal offer so far.

Sir Ken Morrison, the supermarket firm's chairman, said he was proud of the firm's achievements and believed it was the best for the shopper and the shareholder alike.

So far only Morrisons has formally made a bid, but a number of stores and companies - including Asda owner Wal-Mart, Sainsbury and Bhs owner Philip Green - have thrown their hats in the ring for Safeway.

But Sir Ken is the first to break out and put a formal table on the offer.

"At Morrisons we are proud of what we have achieved since our listing in 1967. We have been consistent in our retail strategy, we understand our customers and we are passionate about food retailing - our 35 year unbroken track record of delivering both sales and profit growth, we believe, speaks for itself."

He vowed to get Morrisons food into Safeway stores as soon as possible, link their distribution centres and bring the "unique" Morrisons style - which includes a market street approach - to the majority of stores.

The expanded group would have its headquarters in Bradford - and could see some £150 million in savings made through the merger.

And he said letters were winging their way out to shareholders detailing exactly what was on offer.

"A merger with Safeway presents a unique opportunity: a tremendous chance to transform the scale and potential of our group and to take the Morrisons formula and our retailing strengths across the UK."

He claimed Safeway would be able to benefit from Morrisons "high quality products, attractive prices, a strong national promotional programme, and a business culture that encourages investment but also retains tight control on all expenditure."

Yesterday, Morrisons also reported strong trading for the four weeks ended January 26.

Total store takings, excluding fuel, were up by 10.4 per cent. compared with last year, or 5.2 per cent on a like for like basis.

And Sir Ken said it was time to push on and expand - with the help of Safeway.

"This is clearly a transforming step for Morrisons, but we are ready to seize this opportunity. We believe we have an intimate understanding of Safeway's business and clear plans for it. Our well-established and experienced management team is well placed to drive the transformation of Safeway's stores, to achieve synergy benefits and to take advantage of the economies of scale, creating significant value for shareholders of both companies."

And he said the customer would also benefit.

"For customers, the merger will create a strong fourth national food retailer in the UK capable of offering a sustained value-based price challenge to Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda."

And, of course, he claimed it was the best offer for Safeway available.

"We strongly believe that four national retailers is better for competition than three. Any other combination would be bad news for suppliers and customers who would face the risk of less choice and higher prices," he told shareholders today.

If the deal went ahead, the combined group would employ more than 135,000 people.