A new Tesco store has opened in Baxenden and it has taken over the site of a former pub.

The Tesco Express opened on Manchester Road earlier this month.

It has taken over the site of the former Bay Horse pub, which is thought to date back 200 years. 

The Bay Horse was a late eighteenth or early nineteenth-century coaching inn, with stables and coach house building, regarded as one of the oldest buildings in Baxenden village.

Plans for a convenience store at the site were approved in 2022.

Last year, Andy Horwood submitted plans and details for Tesco Express signage, which were approved in June.

A previous bid to demolish the building and build a Co-op shop was rejected by Hyndburn planners in October 2021.

The store has hired 18 staff members from the area. The store’s opening hours are 6am to 11pm, Monday to Sunday.

Store manager Naeem Zaman said: “We are extremely excited to open our new store and provide great service to our customers.

“We’ve got 18 new colleagues joining the team from the local area. Through our community programmes, we hope to make an impact locally and play a key role in the local community.”

As well as providing a wide range of great value food, Tesco has also vowed to have a positive impact in the local community through its community programmes, Tesco Stronger Starts and Community Food Connection, across Baxenden and the wider Hyndburn area.

The supermarket’s customers in the Hyndburn constituency have helped to donate grants of £294,680 for 159 groups and good causes through its blue token voting scheme, Stronger Starts.

Since its launch in 2015, the Community Food Connection Scheme has also donated 267,077 meals to local charities in the area. The scheme helps prevent surplus food from going to waste from Tesco stores and distribution centres.