CHARITY volunteers raced around a Witney shop trying to squeeze as much as possible into a trolley in 99 seconds.

The trolley dash marked the opening of 99p Stores in the former Woolworths, in High Street, on Friday.

There was a queue of about a hundred people for the grand opening, where shoppers were greeted with a glass of 99p-style champagne, and the first 400 could buy a tea set for under a pound, usually sold for £9.99.

A team of four volunteers from Cancer Research UK took part in the relay around the shop, and managed to scoop 64 bargain items into the trolley.

The mixture of food items, toiletries and children’s games were donated to the charity, and will be used for its Relay for Life on June 27 (see also Page 6).

Sharon Woolford, 49, of Bablock Hythe, took part in the trolley dash.

She said: “This will make an awful lot of difference as we are basically focused on tea and coffee to keep us going through the night during the Relay for Life. We also concentrated on gifts for children, so that everyone is entertained while the people are walking to generate money for us.”

Debbie O’Sullivan, chairman of the Relay for Life committee, said: “It is really appreciated by us that we can take part in this and that the shop is willing to support our charity at other events we may have.

“This will all be used at the relay event, either as children’s prizes or on the stalls at the event or to provide tea and coffee.”

Graham Barnes, spokesman for 99p Stores, said: “We thought we would do something different here in Witney.

“They did manage to get 64 items in 99 seconds.

“I am absolutely delighted that they took part, and welcome everybody to the 99p Stores.”

The shop opening is a welcome boost for the town’s employment, with 30 members of staff being recruited in the area.