SHOPPERS grabbed their first bags of groceries at a town’s new food store.

Marks & Spencer opened its foodhall in Bicester on Wednesday with a 50-strong team welcoming customers.

The shop in the outskirts of the town at Bicester Shopping Park has replaced the old store in the town centre, a change some residents were not happy about.

The brand says the location at the shopping park, which is near the Kingsmere estate, will provide the community with a bigger and better food offer.

But some residents said the change was a bad move as it means people will now have to drive to the shop and elderly people will either miss out or have to use bus services to get there.

With the launch of the new store and Sparks, Marks & Spencer’s customer loyalty scheme, the brand treated seven customers over seven days to their shopping, totally for free.

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One shopper was chosen at random each day, and whatever was in their trolley was complimentary.

Andrew Curtis was one of the first customers through the doors.

He said: “It’s brilliant, absolutely fabulous. We’ve been waiting for it to open for a while as it’s in a really convenient location for us. The store looks lovely, spacious and very well laid out, and it’s been really nice to see some familiar faces in there.”

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Another customer, Becky McGuire said: “I live locally and it’s really convenient for me and it’ll be great for the estate. The store looks great and it looks to have a really great variety which is wonderful.”

The new store is led by manager Chris Chapman, who has worked for Marks & Spencer for 12 years.

He said: “The last few weeks have been spent putting the finishing touches in store and making sure all our measures are in place to support customers, so they can shop with peace of mind.

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“It’s brilliant to now be open and welcome the community – chatting with customers today it’s fantastic to see them get excited about our new summer products, as well as shop for all the essentials.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to the team, who have been amazing getting the store ready. We’re all so excited to be part of the community and can’t wait to get to know locals better in the coming weeks.”

Marks & Spencer plans to cut 7,000 jobs after seeing a ‘material shift’ in trade.

It plans to reduce the number of roles at the retail chain’s central support centre, in its regional management and UK stores over the next three months.

During lockdown, the company said it has learnt to work more flexibly, using the same staff to man both the food aisles and the clothing section of the stores.

New Microsoft technology will also allow it to reduce layers of management and it also expects to create ‘a number’ of new jobs as the chain invests in its online capacity.

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The Bicester store offers the full range of clothing and home products via its Click & Collect service. Customers can use it for next day pick-up services on M&S.com and the store will also offer ‘hassle-free’ returns.

The shop is open on Monday to Saturday at 8am to 9pm and on Sundays at 11am to 4pm.