Bakery chain Greggs has confirmed Norfolk could welcome new stores as part of the brand's expansion this year.

Greggs, which is originally from Newcastle, said it would be looking at a "broad range of locations" across the UK and reviewing them on a case-by-case basis.

A net total of 100 stores will open by the end of the year, bringing 500 jobs to the high street.

Already 37 stores have opened - but there are plenty more to come.

Sites being targeted by the chain are areas like petrol stations and retail sites which are easily accessible by car.

Roger Whiteside, chief executive, wrote in a company report released this week: "The strongest locations continue to be shops typically accessed by car.

"The strongest-performing parts of the estate are also the locations where we see significant potential for further expansion, making Greggs accessible to more customers on-the-go."

The report released on Tuesday also revealed that total sales over the half-year to June to £546.2 million, to just short of the £546.3 million it posted in the same period in 2019.

The group saw like-for-like sales drop 9.2pc against 2019 after the impact of the third national lockdown but it was lifted by the opening of new sites.

The group added that recent performances were “stronger than we had anticipated” as like-for-like sales for the four weeks to the end of July were 0.4pc above the levels it saw in the same period in 2019.

Mr Whiteside added: “Greggs once again showed its resilience in a challenging first half, emerging from the lockdown months in a strong position and rebuilding sales as social restrictions were progressively relaxed.

“Whilst there continue to be general uncertainties in the market, given our recent performance we now expect full-year profit to be slightly ahead of our previous expectation.”

“The pandemic trends were all trends we saw previously but they’ve just been supercharged, and that’s the same for delivery, out-of-town and everything else.”

The boss, who turned vegan in 2019, said he also saw more growth potential through product innovation, such as its new vegan sausage, bean and cheese melt.