Mayor Gaynar Owen helped Lidl end its seven year itch in Ormskirk on Thursday!

She's pictured at the official opening of the new store where business is booming since it opened on Thursday as customers welcome the town's biggest discount supermarket with open wallets.

Many commented on how much bigger and brighter it is than its town centre rival Aldi - with many of its staff spotted there on the opening day casting envious eyes over its facilities.

And the good news is that ANPR cameras on its car park won't be switched on until after Christmas according to one Lidl insider.

The discounter's been looking to open in Ormskirk for around seven years with its last attempt at the former Comrades club on Southport Road near its junction with County Road thwarted by traffic safety fears; that's now a McCarthy Stone development.