Tesco has confirmed it has withdrawn plans to build eight new stores in Scotland.

The announcement is part of a turnaround plan for the retail chain following a difficult year of falling sales and controversy.

It is understood the planned stores at Aviemore, Banff, Cowdenbeath, Crieff, East Kilbride, Fort William and Glasgow have all been dropped, as has an extension to a store in Cupar.

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The premises are among a total of 49 new developments being shelved by the supermarket within the UK, while an addition 43 "unprofitable" stores are also to close. It is not yet clear if any of these will be in Scotland.

Commenting on the closures, Dave Lewis, CEO at Tesco, said: "It is with a heavy heart that I am today announcing that we are unable to proceed with eight planned new store developments across Scotland.

"Our performance as a business has fallen significantly short of where we would want it to be and my absolute imperative has to be to protect the future of our business for the 300,000 colleagues we employ in communities all over the UK."

(JP/IT)