A NEW food shop will be opening its doors for the first time in Ipswich next month.

A NEW food shop will be opening its doors for the first time in Ipswich next month.

Nationwide grocer Somerfield has pumped £500,000 into its new store in Carr Street in the town centre.

The investment will also see the creation of 35 new jobs by the time the shop opens for the first time at 9am on Thursday, November 6.

It will then be open from 7am until 7pm, Monday to Saturday, and 9am until 6pm on Sundays, offering customers snacks, fresh food and groceries.

The new store will be next to clothing store Peacocks and is part of the company's country-wide expansion programme, which will see it open 50 new stores during this financial year.

Currently the chain has no stores in Ipswich, with the nearest Somerfield shop in Dovercourt.

Regional manager of Somerfield, Jeremy Nears, said: “The new store will cover 2,814 square feet of retail space and will sell a wide range of products including fresh fruit and vegetables, a variety of snacks and ready meals as well as bakery and a choice of wines, beers and spirits.

“As well as bringing a new local grocery offering to local people, the store will also generate some new job opportunities for the area.”

Somerfield operates more than 900 stores across the UK with nine out of ten located in town centre or neighbourhood locations.

The supermarket employs more than 42,000 people and has more than nine million customer visits every week.

Are you pleased Somerfield will be opening its doors? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.