THE opening of a new furniture store in Worcester got the bird in the best possible taste.

Because the launch of the Oak Furniture Land on Blackpole Retail Park was attended by Worcester Festival’s famous mascot Percy Peacock. He joined the Mayor of Worcester Cllr Roger Knight to welcome the national retailer’s first store in the city, which has created seven new jobs.

The Mayor said: "This new Oak Furniture Land store is a welcome investment in terms of job creation and is a good addition to the choice of shops for local residents. I was delighted to officially open the store alongside Percy.”

Oak Furniture Land is the UK’s largest retailer of solid hardwood furniture and the 17,000 sq. ft store also features a www.sofastore.com concession with all the latest sofa trends and more than 75 different ranges of high quality sofas with 3,500 colour and size variations to choose from.

Mick Watts, Oak Furniture Land Worcester store manager added: “We are delighted that the Mayor of Worcester and Percy the Peacock officially opened the store and welcomed customers through the door. This is our first store in Worcester, and our seventh in the Midlands. We’ve created seven new local jobs and to celebrate we have some amazing offers in-store including up to 50 per cent off selected items in our 100 per cent Solid Summer Sale.”