Sainsbury's new store opened in Upper Norwood last Thursday and has been welcomed by businesses as well as residents.

The shop has been hailed as a saviour for nearby businesses, whose sales have plummeted by 30 per cent since Safeways' store closed there last November. Sainsbury's expects 4,000 customers to shop each week, some of whom are expected to visit local shops too.

It is also a welcome addition for nearby residents who will no longer have to travel far to reach a supermarket.

The new store in Westow Street opened at 9am with an official ribbon cutting ceremony, carried out by Saundra Wadmore, one of Sainsbury's staff who worked at the site when it was Safeways.

She said: "I am really pleased to have the pleasure of opening the new Sainsbury's at Upper Norwood. I have worked at this supermarket site for over six years and I hope to spend many more years working for Sainsbury's."

The store will create more than 180 jobs in the area and will include a wide range of facilities from an in-store bakery to a TU clothing department.

Store manager Adam Bye said: "Sainsbury's has been enthusiastically welcomed by the community in Upper Norwood. I am enjoying celebrating the opening with our new customers."

Speaking to customers on the day of the store's opening, opinions were overwhelmingly positive. "This supermarket is a lot closer to me than any other one," said local resident Ann Shaw. "I always prefer to shop at Sainsbury's so up until now I have been travelling to the one in Streatham to do my shopping."

Glenis Carpenter came to the store with her mother, who lives in Gipsy Hill. "Having this supermarket here will be great for my mother as she can come here by herself on the bus. The only place she used to buy food was at her corner shop which didn't have a wide range of products."

Other businesses on the road also welcomed the store's arrival. "This will be hugely beneficial to me," said Beverly Hursman, part owner of South of the River clothes shop. "Since the supermarket closed there have been less people around and our sales have fallen by up to 50 per cent."

Jonathan Main, owner of book shop Crow on the Hill, added: "It's absolutely a good thing for us. I don't approve of supermarkets that monopolise the market in principle, but with the Sainsbury's being open it's brought so many people to the area and our sales have already gone up. I will certainly be shopping there."