FIVE members of staff had special cause to celebrate when supermarket firm Sainsbury’s marked the 30th anniversary of its Huddersfield town centre store.

Employees Hazel Hill, Muriel Hennigan, Claire Earnshaw, Julia Kershaw and Janet Robshaw have all been at the Market Street store since it first opened in 1982.

Store manager Mick Hepworth presented them all with champagne and flowers to recognise their commitment to the store.

Hazel works as a general assistant while Claire is a store trainer, Janet is human resources clerk and Julia and Muriel are both customer service assistants.

Workers at the store celebrated in style with a party at the Rock Cafe in Huddersfield.

The Examiner recorded that queues formed for the 9.30am opening of the store on October 26, 1982.

The first customer was Mrs Eunice Spence, of Paddock, who started the queue at 8.15am and was greeted by retail division director Joe Barnes.

The store, built at a cost of £2.7m on the site of the former Yorkshire Electricity Board showrooms, created 158 jobs and was the fourth Sainsbury’s supermarket to open in Yorkshire.