Tesco has expanded into non-food areas and into new countries

The Sunday Telegraph says the posts will come about as the UK's number one grocer opens new stores and continues expansion in non-food product areas.

Tesco would not comment on the report but said there would be an announcement on jobs with Tuesday's figures.

The chain is expected to reveal profits up by around 14% on 2004.

New stores

Any jobs move comes at a time when many UK retailers are facing the toughest trading conditions for the last few years.

The newspaper said posts would be created when Tesco opens its first stand-alone, non-food, store in Manchester in October.

"Generally speaking we have created 10,000 new jobs for the last few years, and we will be making another announcement on jobs on Tuesday," a Tesco spokesman told the BBC.

Tesco broke through the �2bn annual profits barrier in April - the first UK retailer to do so.

It has recently been touted as a possible bidder for US grocer Albertsons - the number two chain in the US - which put itself up for sale this month, although Tesco refuses to comment.

Critical voices

Tesco has generally managed to dodge the impact of a slowdown in UK consumer spending that is hurting many High Street stores.

Analysts are predicting half-year profit of around �939m, compared to �822 million in the same period last year.

Tesco's domination has drawn criticism from small business advocates, environmental groups, trade unions, and supermarket rivals.