Asda is seeking to recruit 15,000 people to help with the busy Christmas period.

The supermarket giant will be hiring the temporary workers for a raft of roles in its stores and depots and for its home delivery service.

About 500 jobs will be based in depots and 1,500 will be home delivery roles, with the remainder being in stores across the UK.

The retailer said there will be opportunities for some of these seasonal workers to remain with Asda into the new year as colleagues take time off after the hectic festive period.

We will do all we can to make sure customers have a fantastic Christmas

The recruitment spree comes after rivals including Tesco and Sainsbury’s announced their own plans to hire thousands of temporary workers.

Many customers are expected to splash out on bumper Christmas celebrations after last year was disrupted by the pandemic.

Retailers will also be facing a number of challenges including supply chain disruption, caused by factors including lorry driver shortages and global shipping issues.

Asda confirmed its first Christmas delivery slots will become available later on Tuesday for its Delivery Pass customers, with the first slots for all other customers available from Thursday October 28.

Since the start of the pandemic, the retailer has more than doubled the capacity of its online delivery service and will have 900,000 home delivery and click and collect slots available the week before Christmas.

Hayley Tatum, chief people officer at Asda, said: “We will do all we can to make sure customers have a fantastic Christmas, and recruiting an extra 15,000 colleagues across our stores, depots and home delivery service will help us to provide them with great products and excellent service when they shop with us during the festive season.”