ALMOST 800 jobs in Worcester are to go, following confirmation that Sainsbury's is to close its distribution depot in the city.

The closure of the Blackpole site has been on the cards for 18 months but was only confirmed yesterday by bosses at the supermarket chain.

Almost 700 warehouse operatives and administration staff are now in relocation talks, after bosses decided the site, in Wainwright Road, was too small to fulfil the company's expansion plans.

A further 94 contract drivers, employed by Christian Salvesen, are also now not needed.

Martin White, supply chain director at Sainsbury's, said despite the company offering relocation packages and investing heavily in re-training, the majority of workers would probably take redundancy. Some will retire and others will be re-deployed within the company.

"We would have loved to have been able to stay in Worcester," said Mr White.

"But we are upgrading the whole supply infrastructure and, unfortunately, our Worcester depot, on Shire Park, is too small.

"We couldn't extend, as it is landlocked - by the lake on one side and, on the other, by buildings."

He said the firm was in talks with employees - most of whom live in Worcestershire - about relocating to Sainsbury's depots in Hams Hall, Birmingham, and a new site, in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, that opened in February.

He accepted, however, the majority of people would not move, and said employees would be released progressively each month as the depot wound down operations, with the final closure expected in mid-November.

"From surveys we've done, we would not expect a massive percentage to move to Hams Hall," said Mr White.

"It's tough but what we're trying to do is maximise peoples' choices as they go forward. We have invested heavily in training for employees, and have provided computer courses, vocational courses and even language courses for workers. We also provide training for interviews and writing CVs."

Mr White said Sainsbury's strategy of increasing the number of product lines in stores, meant bigger warehouses were needed to cope with more products.

"Worcester has been a really good workforce - it has been very good for us - but now the depot is not viable as far as our expansion plans go."