Customers begin shopping at Melton's newest supermarket after Olympic star cuts the ribbon

Staff handed out bags of fresh fruit and vegetables to the first 30 people who went to the Aldi store in Leicester Road.

There to cut the ribbon on the official opening was Team GB runner, Anyika Onuora, a relay bronze medallist at last year’s Rio game, pupils from Birchwood School and Melton store manager Ruth Hopewell.

Anyika, said: “It was an honour to open Aldi’s Melton store - you could tell how excited the crowd were to get their hands on some of the store’s latest offerings.”

She also helped judge a pork pie baking contest with the winner, Hazel Paterson, receiving £100 of Aldi shopping vouchers.

Anyika took time out of her training schedule to visit children ay The Grove Primary School, giving an assembly on the importance of exercise and healthy eating as part of Aldi’s partnership with Team GB and the supermarket’s commitment to inspiring 1.2 million schoolchildren to learn about the benefits of cooking fresh, healthy food.

“The children at The Grove Primary School were so welcoming this morning. I’m so glad I was able to give them advice about staying healthy through a good diet and enjoying regular exercise.” added Anyika.

The Aldi store, which has parking for 121 cars, sells household items, gardening equipment and electrical items as well as food.

Store manager Ms Hopewell said: “The opening went even better than we could have expected.

“Everyone on the team would like to thank our customers, Anyika, and our pork pie bakers for attending.

“We hope they enjoyed themselves as much as we did, and we can’t wait to welcome even more shoppers over the coming weeks.”

The new supermarket, which is open 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sundays, has created 33 jobs.

Store assistants and deputy store managers are still being recruited - go to www.aldirecruitment.co.uk/stores for more details.