A SUPERMARKET chain has announced a slight profits hike as it prepares to expand its offering across East Lancashire before the end of the year.

Kendal-based Booths has revealed before-tax profits are up by 6.9 per cent for the year, with total sales of £282 million, up one per cent annually.

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This December the upmarket retailer, which has a longstanding store in Clitheroe, is set to open its long-awaited store in Gisburn Road, Barrowford.

Company bosses have attributed their ‘solid’ year to close relationships with suppliers, including the launch of their ‘Fair Milk’ drive, where the outfit has pledged to pay the highest farm gate prices to dairy farmers.

Edwin Booth, Booths chairman, said: “Against the backdrop of some of the most challenging trading conditions of my career, I am proud that Booths has remained true to its core values and expressed these in a modern approach to retailing.”