THE revamped Sainsbury's store opened its doors to the public, with jazz, free Buck's Fizz and a special ribbon-cutting ceremony by its oldest customer.

Centenarian Jessie Harrison, who lives in Chippenham, was guest of honour at the official opening at 9am on Thursday.

Cutting a ribbon to unveil the store's £9 million new look, Mrs Harrison said she thought the place looked fantastic and wished them many more happy years of trading to come.

Mrs Harrison, can remember shopping with her parents at London's first ever Sainsbury's store, when she was a child.

She said: "It has come a long way since then.

"It was only a small shop, with two windows and all they sold was delicatessen now there's so much to choose from."

Helped by her friend, Patricia Ware, she then set off to get her fortnightly shopping, stopping to sample some of the strawberries being handed out in the fresh fruit section.

Store manager, Steve French, used the opening to thank all the staff for their hard work during the last six months.

Since October last year, the store has been completely re-fitted and has seen its floor space extended from 32,000sq ft to 52,000 sq ft.

New features include adult and children's clothing, a freshly prepared food counter, a new Persil Services dry cleaning, photo developing service and a large new pharmacy.

Mr French said: "We now have 20,000 new products. It is the store Chippenham deserves."

One hundred and forty extra staff have also been recruited but the store is already finding it is not enough.

As a result, Sainsbury's duty manager Steve Chamberlain has been transporting extra staff from other stores in Bridgend and Cardiff, since it opened.

"An extra 50 staff are needed, throughout the store, to cope with customer demand," he said.

"The response to the new store has been incredible.

"I've talked to people who said they had travelled 50 miles to shop here."

Advertisements for the new staff openings are within in this week's Gazette.