These are the pictures as work nears completion on new Lancashire store

Central England Co-op offered a first look at the progress of its new community store opening near Leyland.

The society will officially open its new store in Wigan Road, Clayton-le-Woods, on Friday, May 13, with confirmed features including self-checkouts, a customer car park, free water refills and customer toilets.

It will be the society’s first store in Lancashire and will bring investment and new jobs to the area, as well as providing a modern and sustainable food store for the surrounding community.

Images show how both the outside and inside of the store have almost been completed and made ready for thousands of products to be stacked onto the shelves ahead of the official opening.

The store’s frontage is almost complete and special eco-friendly fridges and lighting have started to be installed to back up the retailer’s eco-friendly ethos, while the kiosk area is in place ready to welcome locals.

Wigan Road Central England Co-operative store manager Saj Bax said: “The images show that our brand new store in Clayton-le-Woods is almost ready to launch and we can’t wait to open the doors to the local community and build some wonderful relationships with new customers and members.

“It’s particularly exciting as this will be our first store to open in Lancashire and I’m excited to be leading our new team as we embark on this first for the society.”

The Wigan Road Co-operative food store will be open from 7am to 10pm, Monday to Sunday.

The firm said that the shop will offer a wide range of products from everyday necessities to something a little more special.

This will include fresh fruit and vegetables, an in-store bakery offering breads and pastries, chilled beers and wines, fresh and frozen product, Irresistible and Fairtrade product ranges, as well as a great selection of food to go, including hot food.

It will also offer Lottery, Paypoint and Collect Plus, as well as a free cash machine.

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK. It is owned by thousands of members, and its 8,000 staff serve customers across 400 plus trading sites in 20 counties.