NINE people working at the Netto supermarket in Clifton Moor, York, will be affected by its closure later this month.

A spokeswoman for the Danish discount grocery group chain confirmed today the store in Stirling Road will shut on June 20 and that the staff had been told their jobs were at risk of redundancy.

“We are currently in consultation with colleagues regarding this situation and will do everything we can to minimise the impact of the store closure,” she said.

But there is no official explanation yet of why it is to close at a time when Asda has announced it is to buy all 193 Netto supermarkets in the UK for £778 million.

The deal, subject to the approval of the Office of Fair Trading, allows Asda, owned by US retail giant Walmart, to step into the small supermarket sector at a stroke.

Asda’s new portfolio includes the Netto at Layerthorpe, York which is to be rebranded Ironically, while jobs are to be lost at Clifton Moor, Asda has speculated that it will double the size of staff at most Nettos.