A new Aldi store has opened its doors in a ceremony performed by a Paralympic gold medallist.

The new branch of the German discount supermarket opened in Alexander Grove, Kings Hill, yesterday at 8am as store manager Lee Cowell was joined by swimming and triathlon star Claire Cashmore.

As well as performing the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the athlete also gave away 100 golden tickets to the first 100 customers in the queue, containing a range of prizes such as an £100 Aldi voucher, a licensed children's smart watch, a Meccano 150-piece bucket and a gaming alarm clock.

The ceremony was also attended by pupils from Valley Invicta Primary School, who had the opportunity to enter a healthy eating poster competition, the winner of which received a £20 voucher for the store.

As part of Aldi's official partnership with ParalympicsGB, Claire Cashmore delivered an assembly for pupils at the primary school, focused on the benefits of eating healthy food, exercise, and believing in yourself.

The 34-year-old shared her experience as a Paralympian and her challenging training regime, as part of the supermarket's initiative 'Get Set to Eat Fresh'.

Lee said: “It’s been a wonderful morning here at the opening of Aldi Kings Hill.

"It was lovely to welcome our new customers into store, and I look forward to meeting more of the community in the coming weeks.

"I’m also thrilled that we are able to support Valley Invicta Primary School through our partnership with ParalympicsGB.”

Rio 2016 gold medallist Claire said: “I’ve had a fantastic time opening the new Aldi.

"It was an honour to officially open the store and welcome customers inside for the first time.

“It was great to speak with the children at Valley Invicta Primary School about the importance of eating healthily and how it can be fun to plan and prepare meals as a family.

"Hopefully I’ve also managed to inspire the pupils to keep active and try different sports.”

The new store offers fresh British meat products, a 'Food to Go' section at the front of the store, and an exclusive section of health and beauty products.

The middle aisle will also contain the company's famous Specialbuys, available every Thursday and Sunday.

In its opening week, the store is also running a Big Toy Event, which includes licensed nightlights, snuggle pods and LEGO sets.

The store is also calling on local charities and food banks in Kings Hill to register with community engagement platform Neighbourly, which links businesses to charitable organisations in the local community.

The registered charities will then be able to collect any surplus food and perishables up to seven days a week.

For more information, interested charities can email aldi@neighbourly.com

The new store will be open from 8am to 10pm from Mondays to Saturdays, and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays.