A visit by Emmerdale actor Mark Charnock to open Bath's new Poundland store brought traffic to a standstill today.
The actor was on hand to declare the Westgate Street shop open, but so many fans gathered to see him they ended up blocking the road.
The actor, who has played Marlon Dingle in the soap for 17 years, then moved into the store where he posed for photos and signed autographs for fans.
The popular actor is no stranger to Bath and took advantage of the event to visit friends in the city.
"Bath is one of my favourite places in the world, it is all that wonderful Georgian architecture," he said.
"I do these shop openings intermittently throughout the year, when you work in telly you don't meet the audience that much and what is nice about doing this is you get feedback from people about the show.
"I am a quite sociable person and it is nice to meet people and talk about my character, at the moment my story is that I've taken the vicar's wife - most people come up to me and say 'aye, aye' or do a bit of moral finger-wagging.
"I love Emmerdale and my mate Dominic (Dominic Brunt who plays vet Paddy Kirk) say to each other 'How lucky are we?'"
"It is like going to school and meeting up with your mates everyday."
He replaced Coronation Street actress Catherine Tyldesley who was originally scheduled to open the bargain store.
But soap fans didn't mind the switch – especially eagle-eyed William Hamer, aged 4, who spotted the actor while he was browsing shelves for bargains.
"He said he'd seen Marlon from Emmerdale and was surprised at how tall he was," said William's mum Lucy Reeves from Weston.
"Emmerdale is on at his bedtime so he normally gets to see a little bit.
"It is about time there something like this (Poundland) in Bath, especially with Christmas coming."
Self-confessed soap fan Barbara Wright from Widcombe said she'd come to the shop especially to see one of her favourite stars.
"I am a soapaholic and I watch all the soaps,"said Mrs Wright.
"It was supposed to be Eva from Coronation Street but Mark is here instead.
"I don't mind because I love all the soaps, I don't miss any of them.
"The story is exciting – taking the vicar's wife - I'll tell him that was a bit naughty."
But although Mrs Wright had come for the special event she said she'd be a regular shopper in the store.
"We have always wanted a Poundland, they've got one in Keynsham and one in Trowbridge but Bath has only had shops for the rich and that is not us."
The new shop – which prides itself on selling goods for a pound – has led to the creation of 35 jobs.
Shopper Dawn Kaylow said she was pleased to see Poundland in the city.
"I've shopped in Poundland before and buy basics like cleaning products - it is about time they have something like this in Bath," she said.
"I live in town and it is handy for me, just two minutes away."
Shop manageress Kerry Williams said the Poundland brand had already proved popular with people in the city.
She said: "It has been fantastic, really busy and well received.
"There is nothing like this in Bath and the response has been very, very positive.
"We have created 35 jobs, management are full-time and the rest of the staff work part-time."
Poundland has faced some criticism for selling products which are smaller in size than in other shops, therefore not making them as cheap as they initially seem.
But Mrs Williams said shoppers would find good value in store.
"You get that from some people but we offer value and quality and offer that every day at the same prices and not just on offer like other places."
Elsewhere, the city centre was packed with shoppers, with long queues of traffic coming in on the A46 and A4.
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