A BRAND new Tesco Metro store in the centre of St Albans is now open for business.

The original St Peter’s Street Metro - one of the first Tesco supermarkets in the country - closed on Sunday afternoon, making way for a bigger and better Tesco a couple of doors down at the old Woolworths shop.

To celebrate the opening, Tesco donated �1,000 to Grove House Hospice, a sum which was warmly received by Grove House employees and guests of honour for the day, Liz Hizli and Sinead Grimes.

Liz, who is currently promoting Grove House Hospice’s fourth annual Midnight Walk, said: “We would like to thank Tesco for their kind donation. We wish them the best of luck with the new store, and hope for continued support from them.”

Store manager Rez Ali added: “I was delighted to meet Liz and Sinead - Grove House Hospice does such fantastic work locally and I was really pleased to present them with the donation. The launch was fantastic and it was lovely to see the store so busy and to meet our customers.”

As part of the ongoing celebrations, Tesco is inviting customers to the St Albans store on Saturday for a day of free family fun. Attractions will include a football freestyler, face painting, a children’s entertainer and a stilt walker, and proceeds will go towards Tesco’s charity of the year, CLIC Sargent.