A pharmacy chain has said it will pull out of more than 200 sites within a major supermarket.

LloydsPharmacy is axing 237 pharmacy sites within Sainsbury’s supermarkets.

This could affect five stores across Norfolk; Costessey, Queen's Road in Norwich, Pound Lane in Thorpe St Andrew, Thetford and King's Lynn.

The pharmacy said it has cut the services "in response to changing market conditions" but it is "exploring options" for each branch and will confirm exact closure plans over the course of 2023.

It did not disclose how many workers would be affected.

Kevin Birch, chief executive officer of LloydsPharmacy, said: "This decision has not been an easy one and we understand that our patients and customers may have questions about how the change will affect them.

"We would like to thank them for their continued support and assure them that we are committed to providing a smooth transition over the coming months."

The decision comes seven years after LloydsPharmacy was bought for £125 million and amid growing pressure on the UK pharmacy sector, following calls for increased state funding support.

Nigel Swift, deputy managing director at pharmacy group Phoenix UK, said: "This announcement is the clearest possible sign of the dire situation facing community pharmacy in England as a result of insufficient government funding.

"Since the start of the pharmacy contract there has been a massive cut in real-term funding resulting in hundreds of closures.

"This has to be a wake-up call for government."