The cost of dealing with Covid saw Tesco profits fall by almost 20 per cent over the last year - despite a sharp rise in sales.

The UK's largest supermarket chain saw revenue rise by seven per cent through the pandemic to £53.4billion.

But the cost of extra staff and ensuring its stores were Covid secure, together with repaying £535million of business rate relief saw pre-tax profits drop from £1billion to £825million.

Tesco Bank lost £175million over the year compared with a profit of £193million profit in the previous 12 months.

Online sales rose by 77 per cent to £6.3billion as delivery capacity was doubled with almost 50,000 temporary workers taken on during the pandemic - around 40 per cent of them remaining permanently.

Chief executive Ken Murphy said: "Tesco has shown incredible strength and agility throughout the pandemic. By putting our customers and colleagues first we have built a stronger business.

"While the pandemic is not yet over, we're well placed to build on the momentum in our business.

"We have strengthened our brand, increased customer satisfaction and improved value perception."