A SUPERMARKET giant has opened a new convenience store in South Lakeland.

The new Tesco Express is located in the former Royal British Legion shop building on Kents Bank Road in Grange-over-Sands.

Permission was won from South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) by Manchester-based developers Kents Bank Assets to convert the building into retail units.

There was some concerns raised at the time over traffic, noise and the knock-on effect on independent shops, but the plans were approved unanimously by councillors.

SLDC ward councillor for Grange South, Tom Harvey, said: “I think mainly it’s taken such a long time to be open that any concerns have really been allayed.

“It’s not really competing with the local indepedent stores its another addition to the town. I think it’s fair to say it will encourage more people to stay and shop in Grange.”

The new store has brought with it 14 new jobs and is open to the public from 7am until 10pm each day, offering everyday essentials, as well as a bakery and an ATM at the store.

The new store will also be part of the retailer’s Bags of Help and Community Food Connection programmes, which are designed to help the local community.

For Bags of Help, every two months a shortlist of three local projects is voted on by customers in-store, with the entrants receiving £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000.

Tesco is asking local groups to submit nominations to receive funding for projects. More information at www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp.

Community Food Connection is Tesco’s surplus food distribution scheme, where local groups can sign up to collect surplus food at the end of each day for free. The initiative, run in partnership with FareShare, helps local groups to feed those in need.

Store manager Anthony Page said: “We’re really happy to be serving our first customers. We know the construction process has been lengthy and we appreciate our neighbours’ patience.

“It’s great to bring new, year-round jobs to Grange-over-Sands and we can’t wait to show people all that the new store has to offer.”