CENTRAL CO-OP’S announcement that it will close three distribution centres and a garage in Leicestershire could put nearly 400 jobs at risk, Usdaw warned today.

The retail union slammed the “devastating” move — affecting three warehouses in Leicester and a garage in Whetstone — and said it is entering talks with bosses to try to avoid redundancies.

The consumer co-operative, whose Central Co-op division oversees more than 400 supermarkets, shops and funeral homes in the Midlands and East Anglia, claimed that every affected worker would be offered roles elsewhere.