A SUPERMARKET in the region has reopened following a major refurbishment.

The Co-op store in Haydon Bridge has benefited from a £687,000 investment in recent weeks and has been overhauled to help meet the needs of its local community.

The refurbished shop, located on Ratcliffe Road in the village, runs on completely renewable energy and also employs 12 local members of staff at its premises.

“We are extremely proud to be relaunching our Haydon Bridge store with a fresh new-look and an increased offer," said Michael Boucher, Co-op Area Manager.

"We have worked hard to develop product ranges and services that will create a really compelling offer for the community and provide an even more convenient, quality way to shop than before.”

Haydon Bridge's Co-op reopened to customers on Thursday (July 15), and will be open seven days a week between 7am-10pm.

The completed work has enabled the supermarket to sell a wider range of everyday items including fresh products, pizzas and ready meals and it will also feature a new and improved bakery on site.

The upgraded store will also stock a new range of Co-op plant based products name GRO, designed to help vegetarians, vegans and flexitarians to have easy access to a number of high quality but affordable meat-free items.

“Our store is committed to connecting communities and making a difference locally," added David Skelton, Co-op Store Manager.

"Our aim is to operate at the heart of local life and we are looking forward to welcoming customers old and new into the store now that we have finished the improvements – a big thank you to everyone for their support and patience.”

As well as the new Co-op store opening itself, inside the location also plays host to the local post office which has also been able to reopen following the works.

During the last few weeks while the work has been carried out, the post office service had moved temporarily to a mobile service ran by Stocksfield Post Office.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers during the work," added Mike Ball, Post Office Partner Account Executive.

“The safety of our customers is of paramount, therefore, to allow for refurbishment work to take place, it was necessary for the service to close temporarily.

"We thank the Postmaster from Stocksfield Post Office for providing a temporary solution whilst the building work was taking place."

The revamped store is located on Ratcliffe Road and is open now.