THOUSANDS of Safeway staff across Kent still face an uncertain future after the Government cleared the way for Morrisons to bid for the struggling supermarket chain.

While Wm Morrison is favourite to acquire the Safeway stores, including 10 in the county, retailing investor Philip Green is considering a rival bid.

Morrison may be forced to increase its £2.9bn offer, either to counter a possible bid from Green or to please Safeway shareholders and senior executives who will be vital to smoothing the merger of the two chains.

Experts think a revised bid of £3.25bn, or 308p per share, may be enough to clinch the deal and transform the Northern-based grocery chain into a national fourth force battling with Tesco (with 27 per cent market share), Sainsbury's (17 per cent) and Asda (16 per cent).

Although the Government blocked rival bids from these three, there is speculation that Asda may appeal against the Government's decision.

It is eight months since Wm Morrison launched its £2.9bn bid for Safeway, a bid supported by the Safeway board.

But it led to a Competition Commission probe into the supermarket sector and what might happen if Safeway was swallowed up.

The delay has been potentially demoralising for staff at the Safeway regional distribution centre in Aylesford and stores in Dartford, Herne Bay, Strood, Canterbury, Maidstone, Larkfield, Tunbridge Wells, Chatham, Folkestone, and Gravesend.

Jonathan Shaw, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, claimed a Morrisons deal would safeguard the Aylesford depot and more than 1,300 jobs.

He said: "I had serious concerns with rival bids from Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco and am absolutely delighted with the Government’s announcement that Morrisons bid for Safeway has been given the all clear."

Mr Shaw said Sir Ken had given him his "personal assurance" that the centre would be safe if his company was successful.

He added that job losses would have been invevitable if Asda or Sainsbury's had gained control of Safeway because each has a regional distribution centre in Kent.

"Of course, this is also good news for consumers as four national food retailers instead of three will clearly be much healthier for competition."

Morrisons would have to sell 53 stores it its bid succeeds. It is not known whether any would be in Kent or Medway.

Safeway said: "Despite these challenging times we remain focussed and committed to our customers and our staff and we will ensure that each store continues to perform as strongly as possible until a final outcome is known."