THOUSANDS of shoppers streamed into Portland’s new superstore and snapped up 1,000 bags of shopping in the first hour and a half.

The Tesco store, at Park Road, Easton, celebrated its official launch yesterday with £500 donations to two local community groups.

Guests of honour were Yvonne Beven of Revive Portland delivery group and Wendy Hill of Portland Gig Rowing Club.

Store manager Eddie Garlick presented them with cheques for £500 and cut the ribbon to declare the store officially open.

The store opened at 8am with Champagne, orange juice and cake for the first customers.

Around 800 applications flooded in for 100 jobs at the new superstore, of which 70 are new jobs and 30 have gone internally to existing Tesco employees.

Tesco, which will open from 7am until 11pm Monday to Saturday and 10am until 4pm on Sundays, worked with the Weymouth-based Job Centre Plus to recruit staff from the area and a total of 35 jobs went to the long-term unemployed.

Mr Garlick said he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the response from shoppers, with 3,500 people believed to have been into the store by the end of the first day.

He said: “There’s been lots of people, which is exciting and how we hoped it would go.

“It’s nice to launch by giving to two really good Portland causes that work with young people.”

Revive’s project co-ordinator Yvonne Beven said: “It’s brilliant, there’s so many people.

“The best thing is that now we don’t have to try and go through those traffic lights at Asda.”

Andy Matthews, Revive treasurer, added: “Hopefully, it will bring an uplift to the area.

“There’s a community message board filled with stuff that would otherwise be missed.”

Rowing club treasurer Wendy Hill said: “We’re thrilled to bits with the donation, which will go towards our second gig.

“We got here at 9.30am and they’d already gone through 1,000 bags.”

Weymouth College also celebrated the opening of the new store, which showcases the work of its former stonemasonry student John Goodliffe, who produced three large carved panels to depict aspects of Portland life.

The work was commissioned by developer Chelverton Deeley Freed (CDF) as a commemorative piece to the old Bath & Portland company site, and completed at the Dorset Skills Centre, Poundbury.

College students Ian Chalmers and Peter Loizou assisted Mr Goodliffe to complete the friezes, each weighing over half a tonne, which have been installed in the wall on Park Road opposite the Health Centre. Master stonemason Mr Goodliffe said: “They are the most ambitious work I’ve done to date, I feel great satisfaction.

“They speak of the spirit and determination of Portlanders.”