Tesco to close all remaining meat, fish and hot deli counters on Sunday 26th February

Tesco is to shut down any of its remaining fresh meat, fish and hot deli counters for the final time this weekend.

The supermarket giant says the resulting space will be "repurposed to better reflect its customers’ needs".

It will be shutting down the services for the final time on Sunday 26th February as part of a programme started four years ago.

A Tesco spokesman said: "We first announced changes to our counters back in 2019, and we’ve been reviewing them on an ongoing basis ever since.

"We have seen a significant decrease in demand for our counters over the last few years, and our customers no longer say they are a significant reason for them to come in store and shop with us.

"Instead, they are choosing to buy from our wide range of great quality products available in our aisles."

In January, the retail giant explained how most of its stores no longer operate any counters and the small number which do only have them open with reduced days and times.

Tesco chief executive Jason Tarry said: “These are difficult decisions to make, but they are necessary to ensure we remain focused on delivering value for our customers wherever we can, as well as ensuring our store offer reflects what our customers value the most."

Tesco will continue to work with third-parties that want to take on the redundant counter space.