Waitrose is recruiting more than 5,000 people for temporary roles across the country this Christmas to help with increased demand during the busy festive period.

New recruits will make up around 2,500 of these roles and they will be filled between now and December.

The remaining roles will be filled by those who have worked for the retailer previously with many being university students home for the Christmas holidays.

The full-time and part-time positions cover a variety of roles throughout the business, including Waitrose branches and little Waitrose convenience shops.

Helen Hyde, Waitrose personnel director, said: “We are committed to offering the best customer service during the festive season so we are happy to welcome people who wish to work in our fast-paced and friendly business.

“As we approach our busiest time of the year the creation of thousands of varied seasonal roles will help enable us to provide

our famous high-quality service for busy Christmas shoppers.”

Waitrose has branches in Colchester, Sudbury and Ipswich.