More than 7,000 Christmas jobs are up for grabs with one of the country's biggest department stores, which is offering new starters free food and drink as part of efforts to 'find the help' it needs.

John Lewis is recruiting 2,000 more temporary staff than it did last year for roles across its shops, Waitrose supermarkets and delivery services to meet an anticipated increase in demand this year, after most customers spent last year's festive season separated from family and friends.

At Waitrose's 331 stores there will be work for supermarket assistants, night shift workers and customer delivery drivers to support the online grocery service.

There are also plans to recruit temporary sales and merchandise staff for 34 John Lewis stores.

Alongside this the Partnership is also launching a recruitment search for more than 550 permanent full-time driver and warehouse staff to work across distribution and delivery centres.

The number of people in work is said to have bounced back to pre-pandemic levels after the biggest jump in employment since 2014, new figures released this week show. But vacancy numbers are also reportedly soaring amid labour shortages in some key UK industries.There are also warnings that the UK may face Christmas shortages over a lack of delivery drivers this winter, caused by a combination of Brexit and the pandemic.

All of the jobs available with the John Lewis Partnership will be advertised on its jobs website jlpjobs.com from September 16 and roles will be recruited for throughout September and October.

A variety of working hours will be available to potential workers and also among the perks on offer will be some free food and drinks, available to both partners and temporary staff, from October 4 until December 31 to 'help ensure we can attract the help we need, says the company.

Nikki Humphrey, People Director at the John Lewis Partnership, said: “We know that as the first Christmas after lockdown, customers will want to make it really special and we're throwing everything we can into helping them celebrate - our festive team will have a crucial role to play.

"We’re looking for people who can deliver extraordinary service to help customers get what they need to celebrate. We look forward to welcoming people into our team across the country.”

As part of John Lewis plans to make Christmas 2021 memorable for all the right reasons are plans to open 10 newly designed Christmas emporiums in shops from October which are described as 'one-stop Christmas shops'. There will be more than 100 new Christmas products in Waitrose and a new distribution centre in Leicestershire is opening to help support online demand ahead of Black Friday.

For more news on big brands and good places to enjoy a tasty bite, head to our Eat, Drink, Shop section

Head to our business page for all of the latest news about businesses in Kent