SUPERMARKET chain Morrisons announced yesterday that it will be closing 11 stores with the loss of around 900 jobs.

The Bradford-baed chain says it has been struggling financially, after pre-tax profits for the half-year to August 2 fell 47 per cent to £126 million while like-for-like sales for the period dropped 2.7 per cent compared with the same period last year.

New Morrisons chief executive David Potts said the group faced a “long journey” to turn around its fortunes.

The closures are in addition to 10 supermarkets shut earlier this year.

Retailing union Usdaw national officer Joanne McGuinness told the Star: “This is devastating news for the staff in the 11 stores that Morrisons intends to close.

“We will now enter into full and meaningful consultation meetings on these proposals, where we will look closely at the company’s business case.

“Our priority is to maximise employment within Morrisons, seek redeployment opportunities for members whose shop is closed and minimise compulsory redundancies. We will support, advise and represent our members throughout this period of uncertainty.”

The news comes a day after Morrisons said it was selling 140 of its M local convenience stores for around £25m to concentrate on its larger stores.

Retail entrepreneur Mike Greene, who bought the M store network, intends to keep all 2,300 staff and create 200 further jobs by opening 10 more sites.