Costa Coffee firm announces UK expansion

The company which owns the Costa Coffee chain says it expects to create 12,000 jobs in the UK over the next five years.

Whitbread has reported an 11.4% rise is pre-tax profits to 356.5m (€422.8m).

It opened 324 shops over the past financial year - bringing its total number of outlets to 2,500.

Costa Coffee also operates in Ireland.