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The supermarket chain Morrisons is to revive the Safeway name for some of the food it makes for independent retailers.

From next year the name will be put on hundreds of fresh food products which it makes and supplies wholesale.

Morrisons bought the Safeway supermarkets for £3bn in 2004 and then rebranded or sold the 479 stores.

The company is also going to pilot 10 more Morrisons Daily convenience shops in petrol garages.

The move comes just a year after the supermarket group sold its struggling 140-strong convenience store chain, M Local.

Announcing the new strategy, which it said would be "capital light", the company said: "The re-introduction of the Safeway brand will enable Morrisons to leverage its sourcing and unique food maker skills to give independent retailers' customers access to great quality products."

"The UK convenience market is very broad and diverse, with around three-quarters held by independents," it explained.

The new Safeway-branded products will not be sold in Morrisons' own stores.