North Herts: The Morrisons supermarket in Letchworth is to undergo a deep-clean as part of the chain's bid to increase hygiene standards in its shops.

The site, used by shoppers from all over our area including many families from Hitchin on the lookout for a cheaper weekly shop, is part of a new programme which will see every one of its 494 stores up and down the country receive a three-week deep-clean, new equipment, and additional cleaning staff.

Hitchin previously had a Morrison's store on Bancroft, similar to the size of the Tesco Express situated near to the town's railway station, but the company shut the Hitchin branch to save costs. The site is now host to The Works.

The supermarket chain has already spent £25 million to implement store safety measures - such as Perspex screens, PPE for colleagues and floor markings and visible signage during lockdown.

Some 2,240 new cleaning roles will be created, including a new Market Street Hygiene Assistant in all stores - to clean food preparation areas.

This will ensure the Morrisons food-makers can concentrate on making products for its butcher, baker, fishmonger, deli, greengrocer and florist departments rather than having to undertake cleaning as part of those roles.

Additionally, nearly 30,000 more hours each week will be put into Morrisons' existing housekeepers and core cleaning roles.

This will see more areas across its stores - such as toilets, shelving and "high touch" areas - being cleaned more frequently to protect colleagues and customers.

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New Welcome Cleaning Stations are also being fitted at all store entrances providing antibacterial wipes for baskets and trolleys, as well as hand sanitiser.

Jayne Wall, operations director at Morrisons, said: "The hygiene within our stores has become more important than ever due to the impact of Covid-19.

"We want to make sure our customers feel as safe as possible when doing their grocery shopping with us, so we've made this multi-million-pound investment to introduce first class hygiene procedures."