Queues of shoppers were seen lining up at Cwmbran Shopping Centre this morning.

The excitement was the opening of national homeware retailer Dunelm's newest store, which welcomed shoppers at 9am.

The first 50 customers were given a goody bag of Dunelm products, as well as these 20 golden tickets ranging from £5 to £20 in value. The items were hidden throughout the store for shoppers to find and redeem.

The new store opened in the former unit of Marks and Spencer’s and more recently One Below at 24 South Walk.

Will Thomas, partner at KLM Real Estate who jointly leased the unit with EJ Hales on behalf of centre owner LCP, is delighted with the new addition to the town.

He added: “This is a major letting for the town centre and is the first of several key transformation deals we are working on.

“Cwmbran continues to buck the trend with rising footfall and performance. Dunelm is a great fit for the town.”

The Cwmbran Centre recently announced it was fully let, with the arrival of a new Turkish restaurant. 

Dunelm stocks a range of products across bedding, outdoor living, home accessories, its Made to Measure range, haberdashery and kitchen and dining.

The opening of the new store created 35 jobs for store colleagues and five managerial roles. The store is the second store to open in Gwent, with another store located in Spytty, Newport.

Opening hours of the new store are Monday to Saturday 9am until 6pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm, on Sundays it will open from 9:30am until 10am for browsing time.