AS the town's Tesco superstore celebrates12 months of trading this week - supermarket bosses have declared it was "the right choice to come to Stourbridge".

The store opened in the new-look Crown Centre in a blaze of glory on October 31 2013 after a £50million regeneration scheme was completed - more than a decade after plans to bring Tesco to town were first laid out on the table.

But rumours have been rife in the town about whether the 60,000 sq ft ring road facing store has been making the money supermarket bosses originally hoped for and whether Tesco is here to stay.

Store manager Sadie Griffiths, however, told the News: “The last year has gone really well. It was definitely the right choice to come to Stourbridge as we’ve only had positive feedback from our customers.

“My team and the shop have been really welcomed and I feel like part of the community now.

“We’ve seen growth in the last three months as shoppers gear up to Christmas and the opening of new units in the Crown Centre mall has also made a difference.”

She said store has seen an average of 30,000 customers through its doors each week and a spokesman for the supermarket chain added: "These past 12 months have been excellent, we are delighted to be here.

"From top to bottom the local community have been so welcoming and we are proud of the hundreds of jobs we have created. It is a pleasure to serve our customers and we look forward to serving them well into the future as well."