THE North-Eastern Co-op has invested almost £600,000 in upgrades for three of its village stores in County Durham.

The shops at Coxhoe, Cockfield and Sacriston have undergone major modernisation.

The sales area of the Coxhoe store has been increased by 900 sq ft to 2,100 sq ft by extending into a neighbouring house.

The £240,000 refit has allowed the store to extend its range of products, including wines and spirits, and frozen food.

The store employs 11 staff, but the upgrade will lead to a further four employees being taken on.

The Cockfield and Sacriston stores have been relaunched as Welcome stores, which focus on fresh food and convenience products.

The Co-op has spent £146,000 revamping the Cockfield store. An extension into a neighbouring house has doubled the size of the sales area to 1,400 sq ft and manager Monica Anderson is looking to employ a further four staff.

The Sacriston store, which has 22 employees, had £210,000 spent on extra fixtures which has allowed it to stock 1,000 grocery products - double the current total.

The Sacriston and Cockfield stores have also increased their opening hours.

Cockfield is open from 8am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday, and from 10am to 10pm, on Sunday.

Sacriston now opens 8am to 10pm, seven days a week.

North-Eastern Co-op chief executive Neil Arnold said: "We modernised 36 of our stores during the course of 2000, which represents an investment of £11m.

"A further £16m will be spent on extending and modernising another 19 outlets during 2001.