Amazon is to create 7,000 new jobs in the UK - taking the total in 2020 to 10,000 permanent jobs.

And the online retailer said it is also recruiting for 20,000 seasonal jobs ahead of the festive period as online sales continue to grow during the coronavirus pandemic.

The new jobs will take Amazon's permanent UK workforce to more than 40,000 and the company says they will pay a minimum of £9.50 an hour at more than 50 sites across the country.

Vice president of European customer fulfilment Stefano Perego said: "We're proud to be creating 10,000 new, permanent roles across our UK network of fulfilment centres, sort centres and delivery stations offering competitive wages and comprehensive benefits starting on day one.

"Our people have played a critical role in serving customers in these unprecedented times and the new roles will help us continue to meet customer demand and support small and medium-sized business selling on Amazon.

"We are employing thousands of talented individuals in a diverse range of good jobs from operations managers and tech professionals through to people to handle customer orders."

Three new warehouses in Darlington - which opened in May - Durham and Nottinghamshire will see more than 1,000 new roles each.

Amazon has also opened its first online-only Whole Foods Market base in New York.

The 'dark store' is laid out as a traditional supermarkets but the only shoppers are staff members packing online orders.

The online giant has said it will pass on the two per cent digital services tax to customers in the UK when it is introduced in November.