REPRESENTATIVES from Asda have outlined their vision for their soon-to-open store in Tranent after the closure of the town’s Co-op.

Suzie Fairweather, people services manager at Asda The Jewel, and Lisa Rooke, Asda’s senior property communications manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland, attended a Tranent and Elphinstone Community Council (TECC) meeting last Tuesday.

They outlined plans for the 11,000 squre foot store – some 9,000 sq ft, smaller than the supermarket in Dunbar – which is due to open in the summer, on the site of the former Co-op on High Street.

Among the Asda features will be a George clothing section, an in-store bakery and a pizza counter, while it was also confirmed that the petrol station kiosk is to remain.

Miss Rooke confirmed that another of the long-standing features of the store, The Tea Room Cafe, would remain and was likely to undergo a refurbishment as part of the changeover from Co-op.

TECC chairman Colin Martin was delighted to welcome the Asda duo to the meeting.

He told the Courier: “It was [ward councillor] Shamin [Akhtar] that managed to get in contact with them.

“We’ve been trying for a while to get information from them, but thankfully Shamin was able to get someone from the council to contact Lisa, and she phoned me.” He was delighted at the prospect of Asda – and rivals Aldi, building a store at the former Tranmare Hotel – both coming to the town in the coming months.

He said: “For as long as I’ve lived in Tranent it’s been one of the things we’ve always been promised – and finally within the space of a year we are going to have an Asda and an Aldi.” Asda were unable to clarify whether there will be new job opportunities but did confirm the 63 Co-op employees would begin their training at Asda stores at The Jewel and Dunbar in the coming days.

Ward councillor Jim Gillies admittted feeling sentimental about the Co-op’s closure, telling the meeting: “I worked with the Co-op for the last 40 years, and I was sorry to see it go.” Fellow councillor Donald Grant described it as “the end of an era”.