ASDA bosses are set to cut hundreds of jobs after the supermarket chain achieved the worst sales figures among its rivals over Christmas.

Owned by US retail giant Walmart, a company which has come under fire from the Fight for $15 campaign over its low pay and poor employment practice, Asda is set to cut up to 300 jobs at its head office in Leeds, it said yesterday.

The supermarket axed 1,360 middle-management jobs in 2014.

An Asda spokesman said that the industry “faces major challenges and the certainty of permanent structural change,” and that “we also have to further change the way we do business.”

He said: “We have made some difficult but necessary decisions but we must discuss these with our colleagues before we talk publicly.”

Asda began talks with staff yesterday morning about the job losses, which are expected to come from trimming departments across the board.

The group’s structural changes are part of a plan to reduce costs by an estimated £1 billion over the next five years.

Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have also axed thousands of jobs to compete against discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.