SUPERMARKET giant Morrisons will open its new city-centre store in York on Monday.

The 'M Local' shop in Spurriergate will create 20 new jobs, the company has said.

Lenny Bear, the St Leonard's Hospice mascot, and Vikings from the Jorvik centre will attend the grand opening at 9am.

Gemma Hayes-Logan, store manager, said: “We can’t wait to open on Monday and I’m sure customers will love the store. We’ve been out to introduce ourselves to the local community and I’m pleased that Lenny Bear and members from the City’s popular Jorvik Viking Centre will join us on Monday to officially cut the ribbon.

"We’ll also have a community noticeboard inside the store, which we’d encourage customers and other local businesses to use to help promote local events. We hope shoppers will come in and give us a try.”

The Morrisons shop is the latest in a wave of new supermarket openings in York city centre in recent years. Since 2010, Tesco has opened in Low Ousegate, Piccadilly and Goodramgate, while Sainsbury's is planning to open in Micklegate.

A Morrisons spokesman said the new store would feature a ‘Food to Go’ section, selling fresh coffee, pastries, and bacon sandwiches, as well as a salad bar. After the opening day, the store will open from 7am to 11pm daily. A series of licensing restrictions were agreed earlier this year, to try to minimise the impact of alcohol sales from the shop on city-centre drunkenness and antisocial behaviour.