THE new Tesco Express in Bradwell celebrated its launch on Friday with a donation to the RNLI Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station. Crew members from the lifeboat were guests of honour when the new Tesco Express store opened on Beccles Road.

THE new Tesco Express in Bradwell celebrated its launch on Friday with a donation to the RNLI Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station.

Crew members from the lifeboat were guests of honour when the new Tesco Express store opened on Beccles Road. They were invited to cut the ribbon to declare the new store officially open at 10.30am on Friday morning.

As part of the opening celebrations, store manager Adrian Dennis and his staff presented the RNLI crew members with a cheque for £500, which will go towards staff training.

The RNLI Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station has been serving the area for over 150 years, and holds 58 awards for outstanding rescues. The station has two lifeboats and launches approximately 68 times a year.

Tesco Express manager Adrian said: “We are delighted to be able to support the RNLI Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station as they provide such an important local service. We thank them for coming down to open the store and we are really glad that they could join in the celebrations with us.”

Adrian added: “My staff and I are enjoying welcoming our customers into the new store and we hope that Tesco will become a key part of the local community.”

Staff at the new Tesco Express chose to make the donation to the station as part of Tesco's commitment to supporting local communities.

Lifeboat operations manager Neal Duffield said: “We are delighted the station will benefit from the opening of the new store and would like to thank Tesco for their support. The donation will be spent on staff training. We have six probationary officers and the money will pay for them to attend college courses in sea survival and navigation training.”

The new store also created 19 new jobs for the local community.