Tesco Express in Cheddar is recruiting customer assistants as part of an employment drive to help the supermarket chain keep up with demand in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

The Cheddar store is advertising for both permanent and temporary staff for a number of shifts throughout the week.

The permanent roles are either ten hours a week from 6pm to 11.15pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays, or ten-and-a-half hours a week from 6pm to 11.15pm on Saturdays and 5pm to 10.45pm on Sundays.

In the temporary position, it is seven-and-a-half hours a week from 6am to 3pm on Sundays.

The applications for this role are for an immediate start, and Tesco says it is trying to process them within a single day wherever possible.

Tesco says there is a high demand for online deliveries as you would expect and that side of the business is working at full capacity.

To help free up slots for the more vulnerable, such as elderly customers and those who are self-isolating, Tesco is encouraging customers who shop online or choose Click+Collect for their grocery home shopping, to prioritise shopping in-store where possible.

To help the company step up and meet demand, it is bringing in up to 20,000 new colleagues to work in its stores around the country for at least the next 12 weeks.