A £20m supermarket designed to breathe life into a run-down area of a city opens today.

The 68,000sq ft Tesco Extra store, on the site of the former Hugh Mackay carpet factory, at Dragonville, Durham, was due to begin trading early last month, but the opening was put back to await improvements to nearby roads.

The 24-hour store employs 398 staff, including 143 long-term unemployed people who were taken on in a regeneration scheme.

The area, which includes the Sherburn Road Estate, has the city's highest unemployment rate.

Store manager Tony Watson said: "The store is unique to the North-East, as it is the first of Tesco's pioneering regeneration schemes in the region.

"The scheme has enabled many long-term unemployed people to gain employment within the store.

"Around £3m a year will be injected back into the local community, in the form of salaries."

The store will be opened by 14-year-old autistic youngster Steven Hall, of Pity Me.

The opening comes on the day Tesco was confirmed as Europe's second largest retailer.

Analyst Retail Intelligence said Tesco was second only to French firm Carrefour.