A MAN queued for 14 hours overnight to be the first customer at Aldi's new Worcester store.

Colin Fortey arrived at the store in Tybridge Street at 6.10pm and whiled away the night reading the paper and filling in a crossword.

As the store opened at 8am his patience was rewarded when he won a widescreen TV.

Around 150 people queued for the store's opening in the hope of winning one of the 100 golden tickets given out by store staff.

Mr Fortey, from St John's, said: "I was under instruction from my girlfriend to get a telly.

"I offered my services so she didn't have to.

"I had a chair. I basically read the paper and did the crossword.

"I was awake all night."

After winning the TV, he added: "I'm very pleased.

"It was worth it.

"I missed the football but I heard the score.

"It was a relatively good experience really."

Also in the queue was Mark Garness who arrived at 1.25am and Owen Prince who joined the line at 3.55am.

Mr Prince said: "I normally shop at Aldi.

"I think it's a lot more accessible than some of the more expensive supermarkets."

Pauline Avery said she was a loyal Aldi customer at the company's Pheasant Street store and had been waiting for a store to open on the St John's side of the city.

She said: "I never thought I would stand outside in a queue but I woke up this morning and I thought I deserve this.

"For four years every Saturday I've walked over to the other store.

"It's a fantastic place. I wouldn't have walked over and back again every week otherwise."

GB hockey player and Olympic medallist Sally Walton helped open the 1,400 square-metre store while the ribbon was cut by St Clement's Primary schoolgirl Abigail Brookes.

Abigail said: "It was fun. It felt like a really important job."

Shoppers also won a mobile phone, electric razor and bags of shopping worth £30, £20 or £15.

The store has created 40 jobs in the city.

Store manager Elisha Chambers said: "It's a very good turn out.

"There was probably about 150 queuing.

"It's been a long time coming so it's nice it's here now.

"It's a large store and we have a big amount of specials tables which will be there all the time."

Marian and Mick Hayes, of Monarch Drive, said they would be regular visitors to the store, which is in the former PC World unit.

Mrs Hayes said: "It's brilliant. It's the price and the staff are always polite and helpful."