South Wootton Junior School pupil cuts the ribbon at supermarket near the Hardwick roundabout

Schoolboy Jacob Tivey used a huge pair of scissors to officially open King's Lynn's biggest supermarket yesterday.

Crowds gathered at the Sainsbury's store near the Hardwick roundabout as the doors opened to the public for the first time after a major building project which also saw a new road created.

Jacob, 10, a pupil at South Wootton Junior School, designed a logo for the store as part of a competition which gave the winner the honour of opening the store.

His logo beat-off competition from 500 entries and will be used on a 'pride' board in the staff area where notices about community work are posted.

'I found out last Thursday and was surprised,' he said.

His mum, Lisa Brian, said Jacob had put a lot of effort into his design.

'I'm very proud of him,' she said.

The store, which employs 400 people, was proving popular early on and manager Chris Pardoe, who was previously at the Longwater store, Costessey, said he was delighted with the response from the shopping public.

'It is a destination store and because we are just off the main roundabout, it is fast becoming an iconic building and already a focal point,' he said.

Mr Pardoe said a high proportion of staff at the new store were relatively young, and for many of them it was their first job.

'Most of my colleagues in this store are young - it must have the youngest workforce,' he added.

A �7m link road joining the Hardwick Road across Scania Way to the A149 has also opened as a result of the Sainsbury's development and the planned new Tesco over the road at the former Campbell's factory site.

The newly-created access should also allow for further development of the area.

The new 70,000 sq ft Sainsbury's store has 1,000 solar panels on its roof, recycles rainwater to flush the toilets and is heated via a ground source pump buried under the car park.

It was built on land which was formerly used by the Pinguin frozen food depot which has moved within the site.

The development also includes an adjoining healthcare centre run by private operator mee which currently offers an optician and hearing centre. The company may add a dental surgery in the future and possibly a GP practice.