TWENTY jobs have been created in Blackburn following the open of a new convenience store on the site of the old infirmary.

Morrisons M Local opened earlier this month in Bolton Road, with children from nearby Longshaw Junior School cutting the ribbon.

Store manager Michael Hardman said: “We are proud to be opening an M Local in Blackburn and creating 20 new jobs for local people.”

Mr Hardman added: “We are thrilled that some of our neighbours are opening the store and welcoming us to the community.

"We’re looking forward to working with the junior school and have already looked at more opportunities for the children to come and visit the store to talk about fresh food and healthy eating.

“Fresh food will be at the heart of our store and as a team we will work hard to be a positive addition to the local community, and provide a great service to our customers.”

The new M Local store features a ‘Food to Go’ section with fresh coffee, bacon sandwiches and pastries, meaning customers can pick up food on the move. The store will open from 7am to 11pm every day.

Morrisons, which already owns a supermarket in Blackburn town centre, is one of the UK's biggest food retailers with 509 stores and 120 convenience stores nationwide.

More than 11million customers shop in Morrisons every week with 129,000 people working for the chain, with more than 6,000 of those fully trained craftspeople such as butchers, bakers, fishmongers and cheesemongers.