Supermarket chain Sainsbury saw its profits leap by more than 10 per cent, despite warning growth was slowing.

The group, which has six stores across the county, said market conditions had become more challenging, with less growth than last year, little food price inflation and more competitive prices.

Chief executive Peter Davis added: "All of us in the food retail business have been reporting that the rate of growth has declined. We're seeing customers being a little bit more cautious and that's not really surprising."

Despite the tougher environment, pre-tax profit for the 28 weeks to October 12 rose by 10.7 per cent to £342m, while sales from continuing operations increased from £9.6bn to £9.74bn.

The group, in the middle of a major overhaul, was confident of meeting growth and cost saving targets.

Mr Davis said the group's Christmas offering was one of its strongest ever.

But he conceded: "We are seeing very little evidence of any particular pattern in the run-up to Christmas."

Sainsbury's also said its Nectar reward scheme, run in conjunction with BP, Barclaycard and Debenhams, was performing well.

Mr Davis said in the two months since the launch, Nectar had signed up 11m users to become "the UK's largest loyalty programme".