The new Premier Store in Old Town Chard has opened its doors to consumers for the first time.

The store opened at 7am on Saturday (June 29) at 7am. From roughly 9am they had some goody bags to hand out to around 100 customers.

The signage and advertising has also been installed on (Saturday, July 13) at the front of the store. After a planning application was submitted. Read more: Doric House Old Town Chard could become a Premier Store

Trading carried on as normal with a temporary sign in place. The store has 'American stock' a free ATM, local and national newspapers on sale and a coffee machine selling drinks for £2 a cup.

Speaking after the opening of the Premier Store, the manager said: "Myself and team just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came in yesterday for our first day and to all the nice comments about the shop!

"We are going to try some new American stock and general products in the shop soon, give us some suggestions of what you would like to see us have and we’ll see what we can do!

"Thank you for your support."

The store is still waiting for permission from the council to have a drop kerb put in to improve the disabailiy access to the store. The manager said: "We would like to apologise for the inconvenience it will cause before we can do anything about it, and we will soon be sorting out a ramp for inside the shop so please be careful of the step, if you need anything then please ask and someone will be there to help you.

"Any questions then please don’t hesitate to ask."

The application submitted on June 12 included new signage and the installation of security grilles to the glazed sections of the shopfront, to deter vandalism, during hours when the shop is not trading.

Doric House used to be home to Chard Domestic Appliances. National retailer Premier has now bought the site and seeks to turn it into a corner shop for the community.

The store is open from 7am until 10pm all day everyday from Monday Sunday.