Morrisons has built a temporary store in the car park of its Penrith store, after it was destroyed by fire in December. The 8,000 sq ft pre-fab aluminium store was built in nine days and was open before the crucial Christmas trading period, the retailer claimed.

The temporary store has eight checkouts and is stocked with 7,000 products including fresh foods and groceries. Fresh meat, fish and bread are being transported from nearby stores and prepared by the fishmongers and butchers on site.

The cause of the fire in the 36,000 sq ft store is still being investigated, and Morrisons store director Chris Taylor declined to estimate the cost of the damage or the cost of lost sales.

“We’ve pulled together and responded to the challenges we faced in a spectacular manner, building the temporary store and filling it with stock in such a quick time,” he said.

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