Sainsbury's claims it has opened the UK's most environment-friendly convenience store.

A new Sainsbury's Local based in Haslucks Green, Solihull, boasts a large number of eco-friendly features including; 42 solar panels on its roof to help generate electricity, a 30 per cent saving on its heating requirement due to window insulation, and natural refrigeration which will reduce carbon emissions by up to 33 per cent.

Paul Crewe, Sainsbury's head of sustainability, said that if the store is a success it will be used as a blueprint for the development of all future Sainsbury's Local stores.

He explained: 'We believe this is Britain's greenest convenience store finished to the very highest standards...the environmental features in the store will also play a big part in helping us to achieve our stretching carbon emissions reduction target of 30 per cent absolute by 2020.'

Sainsbury'shas ambitious plans to invest in convenience. The retailer, which now has more than 530 convenience stores nationwide, opened 87 new stores last year and says that the continued growth and investment in the category will help it to create 10,000 jobs over the next three years.