Watch: New Oswestry Aldi goes down a treat

Queues of shoppers gathered outside the new Aldi store in Shrewsbury Road, Oswestry, to be in with the chance to win a prize in a golden ticket draw.

First in the queue was Les Jones, a landscape gardener from Oswestry. The 62-year-old had been queuing since the early hours of the morning.

He said: "It's a bit of atmosphere and I wanted to see what I could win. I like the shop, it looks very good. I usually do my shopping on a Sunday but I'll do some while I'm here and then come back on Sunday for the rest.

"I'll be using this shop all the time now."

To celebrate the opening, Aldi handed out golden tickets to the first 100 people in the queue, with early bird Mr Jones winning the star prize of a 40" HD TV.

Other customers won Bluetooth headphones, Christmas gift packs and a range of other Aldi products.

The shop is the second Aldi to open in Oswestry, adding to the smaller store in Oswald Road.

The new shop drew favourable comparisons from the assembled crowds, with many saying they were now planning to do all their shopping at the new store.

Alan Rowney, 69, from College Road, Oswestry, said: "I wanted to see what the store is like. I think it's similar to the one in town. I'm very surprised at the amount of people here. I'm quite impressed.

"We do shop in Aldi already but I will be doing my shopping here now. It's easier to get here from College Road and there's lots of variety."

Julia Foster, 46, a paramedic from Gobowen, joined the queue after finishing a 12-hour shift. She said: "It's interesting to see a new store. I planned to come down as long as my shift finished in time. I'll be using it for my regular shopping, because it's easier to get to than the ones in the town centre."

Jean Jones, 57, from Llynclys, said: "It's got much better parking than the one in town and it's quite convenient."

Before the opening, entertainment was provided by Circus Frank, performing magic and circus tricks, and Father Christmas, while staff supplied the waiting shoppers with mince pies and chocolates. The official opening was carried out by local resident Yoland Graham, who used to live on the site, with store manager Debbie Gibbons and the Morton Minors children's choir, comprised of pupils from Bryn Offa CE Primary School and The Marches School. The Porthywaen Silver Band played festive music throughout the morning and complimentary sausage and bacon sandwiches were handed out.

Store manager Debbie Gibbons said: "Today has been a great success and the team and I were pleased to see so many customers turn out on opening day.

"We're also looking forward to welcoming customers to our cheese and wine event next week in the lead-up to Christmas."

The opening has created 30 new jobs, and the company is still recruiting for assistant store managers, deputy store managers, store assistants and stock assistants.

The budget store chain seems to be embraced wherever it opens, with customers keen to buy its cut-price products.

In September the company revealed plans for up to six new stores across Shropshire as part of a £600 million expansion.