Bakery chain Greggs has forecast its first annual loss since 1984, after the pandemic hammered sales in 2020.

Famous for its sausage rolls, the company said total sales for the year had fallen by nearly a third (31 per cent) to £811 million and was bracing itself for annual pre-tax losses of up to £15million.

A statement said: "The significant uncertainty over the duration of social restrictions, along with the impact of higher unemployment levels, makes it difficult to predict performance.

"However, we do not expect that profits will return to pre-Covid levels until 2022 at the earliest."

Greggs cut 820 jobs at the end of 2020 as it faced worsening sales in its high street chains, however it has recently increased trade through a new delivery partnership with Just Eat.

The group said it still had plans to open around 100 new stores throughout the next year.

Chief executive Roger Whiteside said: "With customers spending more time at home we have successfully developed our partnership with Just Eat to offer delivery services and have also seen strong sales through our longstanding partnership with Iceland, offering our products for home baking.

"We have resumed opening new shops where we see good opportunities, with those sites accessed by car performing particularly well."