Tesco needs more than 10,000 temporary Christmas staff

At a number of stores, check-out staff will look out for likely candidates and encourage them to apply for jobs at Tesco's 780 UK shops.

The key skills that check-out staff are advised to spot in potential colleagues are friendliness and helpfulness.

The move comes a week after Tesco announced profits up 24% to �822m.

Like most retailers, supermarkets record their highest profits during the Christmas period and Tesco will be one of many taking on thousands of temporary staff - often students or housewives seeking extra cash to cover festive costs - to cover the December rush.

Tesco's retail director David Potts said that consumers were the first to tell the supermarket how to improve what it does.

He went on to say: "With 12,000 roles to fill this year, this is going to be quite a challenge - so we're enlisting our existing staff to help us."

Last week, Tesco saw its first half profits rise to �822m, with non-food items accounting for 20% of all sales.

UK sales were up 11.5% at �13.1bn, with the chain accounting for 28.1% of the country's supermarket market share - its closest rival Asda has a share of 16.6%.