The move will mean the loss of 200 jobs in Londonderry and Portadown, Co Armagh.

Both stores are to shut on Saturday - only a year after the chain moved to the province.

Commitment remains

Safeway has insisted it remains committed to Northern Ireland and said it is currently spending millions of pounds on new stores and upgrading existing ones.

Garry Billing, Safeway's retail operations manager, said: "We are obviously disappointed to have to announce these closures.

"The decision has only been made after a careful examination of the stores and related trading issues."

The Londonderry store was being shut because a recent planning decision would fundamentally change existing trading patterns and adversely affect their business.

However the company was looking for a new site, he said.

Loss-making operation

The Portadown store was closing because the company had been unable to turn around a loss-making operation.

The company moved into Northern Ireland last year when it took over 15 locally run Wellworth stores and set up a joint venture company with their existing owner, Irish multimillionaire businessman Tony O'Reilly, in a deal worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

Mr Billing insisted Safeway's commitment to Northern Ireland remained, adding the company still had 13 former Wellworth stores across the province in which they had full confidence.