THOUSANDS of Tesco workers feared for their future yesterday after boss Dave Lewis vowed to sacrifice low-paid staff to calm City speculators.

Shares in the supermarket giant leapt more than 10 per cent after the announcement of closures, sell-offs and axed expansion plans following a string of blunders by top executives.

Trade union Unite accused its bosses of “making the workers pay for failure at the top.”

Workers were told that 43 “unprofitable” stores are to shut — but Mr Lewis refused to reveal the locations in a letter to staff.

Plans to open another 49 stores have been scrapped.

Head office workers in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, will also be cut under the plans, which will see online film-streaming service Blinkbox and Tesco broadband hived off to budget operator TalkTalk.

And tens of thousands of long-serving employees face lower pensions through the closure of the firm’s final-salary pension scheme — shut to new members in 2007 — as Mr Lewis signalled an era of pay freezes and greater “flexibility” that includes the loss of “team leader” grades.

City slickers praised the cuts, which coincided with former Halfords boss Matt Davies being unveiled as its new chief executive.

Shop workers’ union Usdaw said it was “keen” to help Tesco turn its fortunes around and that “some change is inevitable.”

But Unite national officer Adrian Jones aimed fire firmly at the executives who have seen hundreds of millions paid out to shareholders over the past decade but are now sacrificing staff for the failure of their strategy.

“We all know that Tesco’s mantle has wobbled recently but it is deplorable that management are now making the workers pay for failure at the top,” he said.

“This is on the same day that it announces the appointment of another CEO whose remuneration package will be staggeringly high compared with our members.”

Economist Michael Burke added: “Tesco is a classic case of big business over-expansion and excessive prices to customers in the drive for profits.

“When that inevitably fails the management priority is once again profits.”

Betrayed workers vent their fury online

TESCO workers rounded on the company’s bosses yesterday after huge cuts were unveiled.

Many took to an unofficial forum to attack plans that include a big assault on the pensions of long-serving staff.

“Absolutely disgraceful behaviour that we as employees are paying the price of managers’ corrupt decisions,” wrote one.

“Blame the minions and keep the shareholders happy — I’m disgusted in this company I work for.”

Those hit by the pension cut, which will see the final-salary scheme closed completely after it was shut to new members in 2007, questioned why more was not done to fill a £3 billion black hole.

Just £3 million of an estimated £300m a year needed to close the gap was earmarked by Tesco bosses last year.

The cuts plans mark a dramatic reversal for a company held up by Tories as a “job creator” for opening new stores.