AN online retailer has confirmed that workers in Durham and Darlington will receive a cash bonus for working through the Covid pandemic.

Amazon, which has two major warehouses in Bowburn, near Durham and at Symmetry Park, Darlington, said it was 'thanking' its workforce for their efforts.

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SEE MORE: First look inside Amazon's newest warehouse at Bowburn in Durham

Amazon workers in the region, who are employed between December 1 and December 31 will get between £150 if they are part-time, and £300 if they are full-time.

Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations for Amazon, said: "As we head into the peak of the holiday season, we want to share our appreciation through another special recognition bonus, totaling more than $500m for our front-line employees across the world.

"UK Operations employees who are employed by the company from December 1 to December 31 will qualify for a bonus of £300 for full-time employees and £150 for part-time employees.

"Our teams are doing amazing work serving customers’ essential needs, while also helping to bring some much-needed holiday cheer for socially-distanced families around the world."

Earlier this month, The Northern Echo had a look around Amazon's latest site in Durham ahead of the Black Friday rush.

The Northern Echo:

Richard Thompson, site leader at Amazon Durham, said the site's volume of orders and staff was gradually increasing after opening around eight weeks ago.

He said: "We've just launched, so our volume is continuing to climb and as we run into Black Friday, our customers will be ordering Christmas presents.

"There's lots of sales going on so we expect that volume to continue and my job is to make sure we can meet those customer needs."

Mr Thompson added: "We've prepared for this as we hired for launch, we hired more than 1,000 permanent associates and more than 1,000 seasonal staff and will continue to hire as the customer volume climbs."