A Leyland supermarket has been sold to a mystery buyer as part of a major shake-up by supermarket bosses.

Although the new owner of the town's Kwik Save supermarket, in Towngate, has not been revealed, former bosses, Somerfield, said all jobs are safe and workers will transfer to the new operator at the end of March.

It is not yet known whether the shop will remain as a supermarket or whether it will sell other goods.

Despite a major refurbishment a couple of years ago, the Leyland shop, near the former Booths store, has struggled to compete with supermarket giant, Tesco, which has enjoyed a boom trade since it opened nearby four years ago. The sale of the shop is part of a major re-organisation by Somerfield, which owns more than 1,000 shops nationally, and aims to focus only on the Somerfield brand.

It includes the sale of 171 Kwik Save stores nationally, to new owners Back To The Future (BTTF), which have bought the brand name.

A Somerfield spokesman said: "The operation of Kwik Save alongside the core Somerfield business has been unsuccessful and Kwik Save, including the Leyland store, has incurred substantial losses.

"The Leyland store has not been purchased by the new Kwik Save owners and has been sold to another retailer."

BTTF chiefs intend to retain all the acquired Kwik Save shops as supermarkets, including the Preston stores in the St John's Centre and at Miller Road, Ribbleton, with no store redundancies.

Paul Niklas, managing director of Huddersfield-based Kwik Save, said: "This marks a recommitment to the Kwik Save brand and its already strong local presence.

"We will, over time, be refreshing the store image while maintaining the existing offer of quality branded products at competitive prices. We will also look at opportunities to source local produce wherever possible, to bring local products direct to the local community."

The Somerfield shop in Liverpool Road, Penwortham, has not been sold off. It is one of 102 nationally which Somerfield have retained.