A Washington resident has described the "honour" of cutting the ribbon on a brand new M&S store in the town today (May 30).

There were 300 eagerly waiting local customers queueing up to enter the store as Christina Herbert cut the ribbon.

Her mother was the first person into the Washington M&S store 13 years ago.

She described how much her mother would have loved her being the one to cut the ribbon on a new store.

Christina, a Washington resident, said: "It has been such an honour to cut the ribbon for the opening of the new The Galleries store, especially as my mother was the first customer through the Washington Simply Food doors 13 years ago.

"Sadly, she passed away last year but I know she would have loved this new store.

"I am so thrilled about this opening, and I know the people of Washington will be too!"

Rob Slone, store manager who has worked at M&S for 20 years, described how exciting it was for the town.

He said: "We are thrilled to officially open our brand-new The Galleries store today!

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"The last few weeks have been so exciting for us all as we’ve seen the store take shape, and I’d like to thank everyone in the team for all their hard work to make sure everything is ready for our customers.  

"We really do encourage local shoppers to come down and try the store out for themselves – they won’t be disappointed."

The new store is in the Galleries Retail Park and it will be open 8am-8pm from Monday to Saturday and 11am to 4.30pm on Sunday.