Taste of home for Europeans

A shop catering for Wolverhampton's growing Eastern European residents has opened in the city.

The Eastern Europe Food Shop in Snow Hill is to serve the growing number of Poles, Lithuanians and Russians living in the area. Run by a family of Lithuanians, the well-stocked shelves are full of traditional fayre from the region.

Among the goods on offer are speciality sausage and meats including pork tongue and ears, gherkins, Polish soups, tins of vegetables and packets of speciality tea.

There are also varieties of bread, DVDs, crisps, chocolate and cakes.

Today Dovile Raisiene, who hails from Lithuania and works in the shop, said business was going well.

She said: "We have the same business over in Lithuania. We lived in London for five years but there were already lots of shops selling Eastern European food."

She moved over with her family three months ago.

She added:"Our food is very different. It is proving really popular and we also have English people coming in to try out the food as well."

The shop was opened as a result of thousands of workers from the Eastern bloc coming to the West Midlands for work and follows NatWest's decision to launch the UK's first Polish bank account.

Travel West Midlands, which runs bus services throughout the Black Country, has 400 employees from the country. And there are 102 Polish drivers employed by Go Ahead, which runs bus services in Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall.

Bushbury-based SAL Ltd uses around 100 immigrants to supply building sites around the region.

Managing director Sal Sandhu said a shortage of young people learning the trade in this country was leading construction firms to look overseas.

It is estimated the average monthly wage in Poland is £300 – a fraction of what the Poles can earn in England.

On the buses in Poland, drivers earn an average of £3,180 a year.