An M&S Food store has opened in New Malden - with Percy Pig officially launching the shop.

The highly anticipated new shop opened its doors on February 8, with the staff gathering at the entrance at 9am.

They were joined by the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston and the famous M&S character, Percy Pig, to declare the store officially open.

Your Local Guardian: The new shop will have an M&S Flower Shop, bakery and feature the new M&S Remarksable range The new shop will have an M&S Flower Shop, bakery and feature the new M&S Remarksable range (Image: M&S)

Located at 53-59 High Street, the store is operated by Simply Retail Limited.

The new M&S premises features a range of M&S Food favourites.

Shoppers can enjoy access to fresh produce, and meat from M&S Select Farms.

The M&S Flower Shop, freshly-prepared meals, and a range of frozen and store cupboard essentials will also be sold at the store.

An in-house M&S Bakery and digital Click & Collect service for shopping Clothing & Home products from the M&S website will also be available for customers.

Your Local Guardian: Shoppers can use the Click & Collect service to pick up orders from their websiteShoppers can use the Click & Collect service to pick up orders from their website (Image: M&S)

M&S will also be bringing their new Remarksable ranges to the store, with items such as Super Soft sliced bread, RSCPA Assured fresh milk, and beef mince from M&S Select Farmers.

The opening of the store has led to the creation of 20 jobs for the local community.

On the day of the opening, a queue of keen shoppers eager to explore the new store formed, with Percy Pig welcoming them in.

Janet Cox from Simply Retail said: "We are thrilled to open our brand-new M&S Food store today in New Malden.

Your Local Guardian: The new store has created 20 new jobs for the local communityThe new store has created 20 new jobs for the local community (Image: M&S)

"The last few weeks have been really busy with our amazing team putting the finishing touches to our new store and I’d like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to make sure everything is ready for our big opening day."

She added: "The store is an exciting investment in the local area, and we can’t wait for our customers to explore all the new features that the store has to offer.

"We’re proud to be creating 20 new jobs for people in the local area and the fantastic store team can’t wait to meet all our new customers."

Shoppers can visit the store, located at 53-59 High Street, New Malden, Monday to Saturday between 7 am and 10 pm, and Sunday from 8 am to 9 pm.