TOMORROW sees the official opening of The Mall Blackburn’s redeveloped Ainsworth entrance giving direct access to the town’s £4.7million new bus station.

The £3million renovation of that side of the shopping centre complete with new gym and shops will be marked with a day of celebration.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The entrance next to the bus station has been in trial operation for several weeks with the escalators in full use.

The 20,000 square foot transformation of Ainsworth Mall provides a home to Pure Gym’s fitness facility, the three new shops and the new entrance, with escalator, a lift and stair access.

The opening will be marked with a fun -packed event in store with giveaways, discounts, special offers, face painting and balloon modelling.

The celebration, with guest appearances from The Mall Monster and Boots’ Sunshine Sam, will start when the doors swing apart at 9am.

The entrance leads shoppers from Ainsworth Street to the ‘Market Way’ area.

The first 500 people through the doors of the new entrance who have, or sign up to one of The Mall’s RewardME cards, will receive a free bag of gifts from The Mall, Ed’s Easy Diner and Boots.

Baskin Robbins and Ed’s Easy Diner will also be handing out free samples.

Loraine Jones, general manager, said: “We are delighted with the results of the renovation that has taken place and I would like to thank all our shoppers for their patience while the work was carried out.

MORE TOP STORIES:

“Pure Gym, which takes up an impressive 16,000 sq ft over two floors and is open 24 hours a day, is already proving to be a huge hit.

“It has been a very exciting time for Blackburn as a whole this year as several major redevelopment projects have been finalised.

“The future can only get brighter as more and more people come to live, work and play in our fabulous town.”

Blackburn with Darwen borough regeneration boss, Cllr Phil Riley, said: “This is another significant moment in t he transformation of Blackburn into a modern town centre.

“It follows the opening of the new bus station in May and the completion of the £24million Cathedral Quarter.”