SUPERMARKET giant Sainsbury's today said it was buying 24 stores from The Co-operative Group in a deal worth £83m.

Of the stores, 22 belonged to the Somerfield grocery chain, which was taken over by The Co-operative earlier this week, and two were branded Co-op stores.

Sainsbury's plans to spend a further £45m fitting out 19 of the stores as supermarkets, and the remaining five as Sainsbury's Locals, its smaller outlets.

Chief executive Justin King said: "We are pleased to welcome 1,400 new colleagues to Sainsbury's." The sale, conditional on approval from the Office of Fair Trading, will go through in May.

The Manchester-based Co-operative Group completed its £1.6bn takeover of Somerfield on Monday, a move cementing its position as the UK's fifth largest food retailer.