SHOPPERS have spent the morning marvelling at the new Waitrose store in Wichelstowe, which was bathed in sunlight as intrigued buyers marched in and out following the 8am opening.

There were queues outside the doors of the Mill Lane outlet before the grand opening of the store, with many shoppers impressed by the eco-friendly design, extra-wide parking bays and picturesque setting.

Steve Wilson, a telecoms project manager from North Swindon, said: “It’s a very good, pleasant experience shopping here. They seem to have got all of their price matching sorted too.

“We spoke to the architect of the building and he said how eco-friendly it all was. I am very impressed with how quickly they got it all together and how many contractors they had working on it.

“The only thing they might have overlooked was not stocking any champagne in the wine tasting area, but maybe I’m being harsh.”

Ronald Byford, of Toothill, said: “I occasionally used to use Waitrose in Cirencester and Marlborough, so I was very interested to check out our new local store.

“It’s a very attractive building and having the canal so close really sets a beautiful scene.”

Fiona Franks, of Rushy Platt, said: “I do wonder whether the car park’s going to be big enough – maybe it will be. At Christmas time it will get very, very busy and they could struggle for space.

“I do wish they had some self-service checkouts. I only had a few items and had to wait to be served, when elsewhere there are self-service machines you can use.”