SAINSBURY'S heavily-trailed revamp will result in around 1,240 jobs for this region.

But only 240 of the extra roles across the South West are permanent - the other 1,000 will just be for Christmas.

Sainsbury's employs 16,000 people in this region with 44 of its 721 stores in the South West.

Chief executive Justin King yesterday (October 19) confirmed weekend leaks by announcing he plans to recruit 3,000 shop staff, cut 750 head office jobs and grow sales by £2.5 billion over three years.

Sainsbury's underlined its need for an overhaul by saying that underlying profits for the first six months of its financial year would be down by two-thirds at between £125 million and £135 million.

Second half performance was unlikely to be different and would lead to a 50 per cent reduction in the full-year dividend paid to shareholders - including the Sainsbury family.

The cut should enable the supermarket to save £135 million towards its restructuring, which is expected to cost £550 million in exceptional charges - a factor that will lead the company to a bottom-line loss this year.

Mr King said: "We wrote to one million customers and got replies from a quarter of a million, and what they said was they wanted to see us going back to what made us great, and that is fantastic quality food at fair prices."

Some 14 million people continue to shop at Sainsbury's despite its difficulties.

"It means that, despite the fact that we have been letting our customers down, they are still visiting us, but the basket size is down because we do have significant challenges with availability."

Sainsbury's complex operating model, developed under former chief executive Sir Peter Davis has been unsuccessful and the chain will return to a simpler structure. Up to 131 of its 461 stores still requiring investment are to be refurbished.