Tesco has announced plans to transform bakeries in large stores from May, putting 1,816 jobs at risk.

The big four supermarket said it is making the change to meet customer demand, after noticing a shift in consumer preferences, as reported by Retail Gazette.

Tesco said that customers are purchasing less traditional loaves of bread and are increasingly looking for a wider range of options, with sales of wraps, bagels and flatbreads all on the up.

The retailer said it will support bakery staff in finding alternative roles from the thousands of vacancies available across its stores.

As part of its transformation of bakeries, Tesco said it will increase the alternatives to traditional loaves, but will continue baking from scratch at 257 of its stores. In 201 stores, the most popular products will be baked from scratch, with other products arriving in store part-baked. In the remaining stores with bakeries, all products will arrive in store part-baked and will be finished in store.

It is not yet known which of the in-store bakeries will be affected by the changes, but a number of stores in the county have bakeries on site.