EAST?Hampshire MP Damian Hinds called in at Sainsbury’s in Alton last Friday to help the store celebrate 25 years in the town.

Built on the site of an old brewery, the Draymans Way superstore has expanded over the years to provide “more space for a wider range of goods and services”.

The cake was made by staff member Debby Bridger, and in wishing the store future success, Mr Hinds joked that he was happy to visit on this special anniversary “as long as I get cake to take away”.

Mandy Knight, one of the checkout staff, is one of the few employees still working at the store from the day it opened its doors in 1992 and remembers just how busy it was.

“I was working in the bakery and although we were out of sight we were aware of the large number of customers coming in to see the new store.

“We were kept really busy all day keeping the displays full and helping customers locate items.”

Long-serving colleagues Linda Nurton, Maureen Taylor, Linda Bishop and Jude Gibbs also celebrated their 25th anniversary working at the store.

Rich Morris, store manager, said: “Many customers are still shopping with the store after 25 years, and maybe some of them will be around when we celebrate 50 years!”