Hundreds of Argos stores could disappear from the high street, if a Sainsbury's takeover of its parent company goes ahead.

The supermarket giant is "considering its position" after an approach for Home Retail Group in November was rebuffed.

Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe is tight-lipped on talks with Home Retail and plans for any improved offer that could lead to a £1 billion-plus takeover.

But in a presentation outlining its rationale for the tie-up, Sainsbury's said it would look to shut a number of the 734 stores in the Argos chain.

The stores could be relocated into Sainsbury’s supermarkets as concessions.

Retail experts believe between 150 and 200 Argos stores could be impacted.

There are already 10 Argos concessions within Sainsbury's stores as part of a trial.

Sainsbury's said it believes around half of Argos stores had shop leases with less than five years to run, offering opportunities to shut a number of these and move them into its outlets.

After its initial approach, Sainsbury’s has until February 2 to make a firm offer or walk away under the City Takeover Panel's so-called ‘put up or shut up’ deadline.

A takeover of Home Retail could allow the grocer to take on the might of rivals such as Amazon, with more than 100,000 general merchandise products between Argos and Sainsbury's.