Greggs, which has stores on Stodman Street and Bowbridge Road, Newark, set to return as it outlines reopening plans

Greggs is set to make a return to Newark as the company gets plans in place to reopen hundreds stores.

The bakery chain, which has stores on Stodman Street and Bowbridge Road, plans to reopen 800 shops on June 18, initially to include around 150 franchise branches.

It has already opened a selection of shops on an ad-hoc basis in the North East trialling delivery, collection and standard walk-in orders — to test out new operational safety measures to roll out on a wider scale when the time is right.

Greggs said: "The trials have been performing well, providing useful feedback from colleagues and customers, and we’ll continue to adapt as we learn more and work to the latest government advice.

"And although they will open with a reduced range, this will be a significant step in us helping the nation get back up and running and serving the communities that we operate in.

"We’ll continue to look for the best ways to serve customers whilst keeping everyone safe, and as long as we can continue to do this, the final phase in our plan is to open all shops with our new operational measures in place by July 1.

"A huge thanks to our colleagues and customers for their cooperation and understanding throughout this process. Keep safe, and all the best."