MORE than 230 jobs have been created through the opening of a new supermarket in Ilkeston.
Today, Morrisons in Nottingam Road opened after more than two years of planning and development.
Built on the site of the former Derby College, the new supermarket includes a petrol station, cafe as well as its 26 aisle shopping centre.
Only minutes after its 9am opening, hundreds of shoppers had already passed through its doors.
One of them was
Sally Burrows, 40, of Regent Street, Ilkeston, visited the shop with a group of friends.
She said: "My son has got a job here now, he starts properly later this week.
"This shop was something that was needed desperately, not just for people who need jobs, but for local families as well - I really love it."
The opening of the shop has created 234 jobs, 98 for people who were previously unemployed.
The development of Morrisons has been kept in the news as well by its now famous roundabout - recently renamed Gnome Island.
The junction, developed to accommodate the supermarket, has over the past year been beset by garden gnomes causing a storm on social media across the world.
To mark the new-found phenomena, Morrisons launched a competition in local schools for kids to design their own gnome.
The one selected out of 500 entries was that of Trowell C of E Primary pupil Kian Howarth-Brindley, 8, from Ilkeston.
His gnome was aptly named Morris and has been put on display at the shop's entrance.
Store general manager Craig Flewitt said: "I think Gnome Island has gone down remarkably well, there's a full account of people following the gnomes on Facebook and we've already seen some on the way to work, it's really funny.
"The main shopping destination in Ilkeston has been Tescos, we've not been spoilt for choice - this give a little more of that."
Morrisons spokesman Tom Cooledge said the new supermarket would not suffocate independent traders either.
He added: "We always do our best to work to with local communities and to do things that work for the benefit of the local economy rather than against - working with local community groups, schools, whatever we can do to bring positives to the local area."
