DOZENS of people queued in torrential rain this morning to be among the first to shop at a highly anticipated new superstore.

Customers from across the county wielded umbrellas and waterproof coats in Newhaven, as they braved the weather to be the first inside The Range.

People waited as long as 30 minutes in the heavy rain before the doors of the new store, in The Drove, were opened for the first time at 9am.

Ahead of its opening, The Argus was given an exclusive look inside the superstore, which also features an Iceland.

Photos taken from inside the shop show pristine aisles filled to the brim with a wide-range of items for the grand opening.

The store has taken over the former Roche Diagnostics site, near the Lidl store, and is spread over two floors packed with everything homeware to DIY essentials.

Rebecca Cole and Ben Smith were the first people in the door and said they had been looking forward to the store opening for a "long time".

Rebecca told The Argus: "I love The Range - I normally go to the one in Eastbourne.

The Argus: The Range in Newhaven had BBQs for sale The Range in Newhaven had BBQs for sale

"I love it loads and I like the prices because it is pretty cheap.

"We plan to be in often."

Ben added: "To be fair, I mainly want the Iceland.

"We are only up the road, I'll especially be doing frozen shopping."

The Range will be open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 8pm and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

The Argus: The Range has its own Iceland branch The Range has its own Iceland branch

Around 80 new staff members have been employed to work in the store and have been busy preparing the shop ahead of the launch.

In line with current Government guidelines, the new superstore also has extra safety procedures in place to protect both staff and customers when it opens - including hand sanitiser and facemasks.

There are currently other Range stores across Sussex, including in Eastbourne, Worthing, Chichester and Crawley.

It is owned and run by entrepreneur and billionaire Chris Dawson, starting life as a market stall trading across the South West of England.

The first store was opened in 1989 under the name CDS and there are now over 185 stores across the UK and Ireland.

A spokesman for The Range has said eager customers who plan to visit the store in its opening weeks can expect limited deals on a range of products.

He said: “There’s exclusive offers running in-store from Friday until June 20, but be quick, once they’re gone, they’re gone.”