It’s a year since the £5m supermarket opened in Oxford Road, and store manager Richard Oughton said sales from the fish counter have soared 55% since first opening.

More than 250 staff were hired when the John Lewis-run supermarket opened last year, prompting a bout of store wars in Newbury. Tesco has expanded by half recently, and Sainsburys will be adding more non-food items when it extends in the coming months.

But as a food-only outlet, Waitrose said it had added 20% more customers in the last six months alone.

Mr Oughton said: 'Since arriving last May, Waitrose has firmly established itself as part of the community in Newbury, which has allowed us to build a fantastic relationship with our customers. We continue to go from strength to strength with sales up by an incredible 30 % on this time last year and our customer base increasing by 20% over the past six months.

“Our impressive fish service counter alone has seen sales rise by 55% compared with the same time last year.”

“What's even more encouraging is that sales at our Thatcham store are also strong and, with it due to be refreshed later this year to create an even better shopping environment, it's a trend that's likely to continue.”

“We are passionate about food and with the quality products we have on offer, combined with the high standards of customer service we exact, there's a great future ahead for Waitrose Newbury.”