SUPERMARKET group Asda is set to create up to 430 jobs in Yorkshire – by converting 43 Netto stores to the Asda name.

The Netto outlet at Aspley is among those to be re-branded with the Asda name following an agreement between the Leeds-based supermarket group and competition watchdogs.

Netto at Batley will also be re-badged Asda, but the Netto store at Ravensthorpe will be sold to another retailer.

The conversion of Netto stores to Asda will take place by late autumn. Asda stressed that all converted Netto stores will charge the same low price as every other Asda in UK.

A spokesman said the move would enable Asda to double the size of its fresh food range and increase the number of products at converted Netto stores from an average of 1,800 to 10,000 – enabling customers using those stores to complete a full weekly shop.

Customers will be able to buy Asda’s own-label food ranges while they will also be able to order from the full range of home and leisure goods. George clothing will be available at supercentre stores online at www.asda.com, for collection in local stores.

Asda chief financial officer Judith McKenna said: “The good news for shoppers here in Yorkshire is that there’ll be no premium to shop in one of our smaller stores. We’ll charge the same low prices you’ll find in any of our stores.”

Asda, which already has a Huddersfield store at Brackenhall, announced in May its intention to buy Netto’s UK stores.

As a result, the Office of Fair Trading asked the retailer to agree to find buyers for 47 of those stores.

Asda has now reached agreement with buyers for 14 Netto stores in Yorkshire. They will be sold to grocery retailers Haldanes, Iceland and Morrisons, who will continue to run them as food stores. All of the colleagues in those stores have been briefed about the change.

Only the Netto store in Keighley remains unsold. However, Asda will be selling this store in the coming months and the outlet will continue to trade as normal.

Asda said the rebranding programme would bring closer a “welcome programme of job creation” in the local retail sector – as part of Asda’s plan to create 7,500 new jobs across the UK in 2011. Following the conversion programme, Asda will have 70 stores in Yorkshire.

Asda, part of US-based giant Wal-Mart, already employs more than 2,700 people at its national head office in Leeds and a further 6,100 in its regional stores.

Asda was founded in the 1960s and today has more than 175,000 staff serving more than 18m shoppers a week at 385 stores UK-wide. In addition, its home shopping service can reach 98% of UK homes.