The opening date of a town’s new B&M store has been pushed back.

Set to replace the old Wilko site at Rainham Shopping Centre this Friday, shoppers will now have to wait a little longer to visit.

The discount retailer will create 45 new jobs for people in the area when it moves into the near 12,000 sq ft site.

It will originally meant to throw open its door this Friday but will now officially be opening to the public at 8am next Thursday (February 29).

The space has been unoccupied since Wilko went into administration in September.

Later the same month B&M announced it had agreed to buy 51 of the fallen retailer’s shops across the country.

The shop floor had also flooded since with a water leak being left unattended.

Other stores in the precinct had expressed their hopes for a new neighbour soon after fears over a drop in footfall following Wilko’s exit from the town.

B&M’s new staff were asked to nominate a local charity they think truly deserves some VIP treatment for the work they do for the local community and they chose High Street-based children’s cancer charity My Shining Star to take centre stage and officially unveil the new store.

A spokesman said: “We’re feeling extremely positive about the creation of more jobs for local people, and we hope customers are going to be delighted with their new store.

“My Shining Star really stood out for us, so we wanted to give them some VIP treatment as a thank you for all the hard work that they have done. We hope that our donation can help them to continue the great work they do.”