MORE than 500 customers have already visited the new B&M store in Tyldesley, which opened today, Friday.

The discount retailer's move from The Square to the larger former Morrisons site on Shuttle Street has created 40 jobs.

Store manager Barbara Mercer said: “Feedback on our new store has been great so far.

"We have had lots of lovely comments on the bigger range of products and the creation of jobs.

“This morning we have seen lots of familiar faces that shopped with us regularly at our old store, as well as welcoming lots of customers who are shopping with us for the first time.”

The former Morrisons store, which employed more than 100 people, closed on November 28.

Some residents had called for another major supermarket chain to take over the site before B&M was revealed as the new tenants.

The new B&M store was opened at 9am by seven-year-old Morgan Kay-Wright of ChildFlight, a Manchester-based charity that provides flights and holidays for sick and deserving children.

B&M was formed in 1978 and is now one of the leading variety retailers in the UK, employing more than 22,500 staff and boasting more than 500 stores.

The discount retailer sells groceries, bread and milk and a wide range of other foodstuffs as well as items for home and garden.

The Shuttle Street store was one of 11 Morrisons to close last year due to cost-cutting and it left Tyldesley with just one cash machine for residents to use.