The store closures are part of sweeping changes at the company, which is grappling with debts of about €47 billion

More than 1,000 Vodafone stores are to close as part of a shake-up of the telecoms group’s estate.

Nick Read, group chief executive, said yesterday that it planned to overhaul its 7,700 shops by the end of its next financial year, transforming 40 per cent of the sites and shutting 15 per cent, or 1,155.

The plans were said to be a response to the rise of online shopping, the telecoms industry’s poor record on customer satisfaction and Vodafone’s target of driving 40 per cent of group sales via digital channels by the end of March 2021.

The closures emerged in a presentation given by Mr Read, 55, at Vodafone’s German headquarters in Dusseldorf. The company has expanded in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and