A WEST Country bakery is to open its second Hampshire store as it continues an expansion into the county which could eventually create 100 jobs.

Cornish pasty giant Warrens Bakery opens the doors of its first shop in Southampton, in The Marlands shopping centre, on Thursday.

The opening comes two months after the successful launch of its Eastleigh outlet.

Established in 1860 and the oldest bakery in Cornwall, Warrens now has more than 50 stores spread across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Bristol which employ around 500.

Earlier this year Warrens made a move beyond the West Country when it opened its first franchise store in Birmingham.

Working in partnership with local businessman Farhat Abbas, the Marlands store is the second in a series of openings planned for south Hampshire.

Farhat said: “After a busy few weeks in Eastleigh, the second bakery will provide a perfect centrally located pit stop for breakfast, lunches and coffees on the go. Offering something new, yet traditional to Southampton’s city centre, with each store opening, we are also creating an extra 10 job opportunities for the local community.

“With a family of stores planned in and around Southampton and Winchester, we expect this will rise to around 100 new employees over the next few years.”

Chairman of Warrens, Mark Sullivan said: “After a fantastic first couple of months since the opening of our Eastleigh store, we are really pleased with how plans are progressing and that we can now add Southampton to our list of locations.”

Farhat will be joined by Andy Hulbert (head of corporate development – franchise) to greet the first set of hungry customers at the Marlands store on Thursday.

On opening day the team are inviting customer to get creative and try their hand at decorating their own biscuits, with freshly baked gingerbread awaiting some sugar-coated styling!

The shop opening comes on the back of recent news that the chain has been shortlisted in the craft bakery category in the Baking Industry Awards 2017.