LEADING electrical retailer Dixons is to create dozens of new jobs in Worcestershire.

The group, which owns Currys, The Link and PC World stores, says the jobs are among 40 new posts in the Midlands.

A spokesman for the group, which employs 33,500 staff in 12 European countries, said the stores offering the new posts in the county had not been pinpointed.

Dixons has recently reported a seven per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits for the last year. It has revealed flat like-for-like sales, which have been hurt by the fall in demand for mobile phones and continued weakness in the PC market.

"Our continued employee growth reflects the continuing demand for the innovative consumer technologies that we sell," said chief executive John Clare.

The jobs would be created over the 2002/3 financial year which runs to the end of April 2003, he added.

Figures also included 60 new posts in the South West of England.

Distribution

As well as its new positions in the stores, jobs will be created at Dixons' head office in Hemel Hempstead, at call centres in Nottingham and Sheffield and in its logistics and distribution division

Dixons also plans to take on another 600 staff internationally over the coming year, including around 70 new jobs in Ireland.

Other posts will be in counties including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and France.