SUPERMARKET giant Morrisons has wished a shopkeeper well after a cheeky re-brand of his business.

Jel Singh Nagra recently changed the name of his convenience store on Benton Road in West Allotment, North Tyneside, to Morrisinghs - complete with a familiar M logo next to it.

The change came about after he was told he faced possible court action over the shop's previous name - Singhsbury's.

However, Bradford based Morrisons has shown a more laid back approach to the creative branding. When asked what they thought of the shop's new name they said: "Mr Nagra and his customers obviously have good taste so we wish him well."

Sainsbury’s had contacted Mr Nagra several years ago to tell him the Singhsbury’s name was too similar to its own branding. It meant the shop went through a period when it had no name.

The 42-year-old businessman has changed the name of the store to Morrisinghs after encouragement from his customers.

Mr Nagra, who commutes to his shop from his home in Stockton every day, said: “When the first sign went down, the customers kept asking what happened.

“While I was away on my honeymoon in September 2012, I got a letter saying that Sainsbury’s was threatening to take me to court.

“In the letter they stated how much this would cost.

“My family saw the letter and took the sign down while I was away because they were so worried.

“My customers kept saying I should come up with a similar name, so I had to think of something”.

The tongue-in-cheek switch of name took place late last week and since then he claims to have had a lot of support from his regular customers on Tyneside.

Mr Nagra said: “A lot of the customers come in here for the banter more than the actual service.

“The sign makes us a talking point.

“They talk about it in the pubs and the clubs and the restaurants.

“We used to have a post office, but when the postmaster retired we knew business would decline.

“There is also a dead end at the bottom of the street, so we don’t get a lot of passing trade.

“But I do feel that the sign is bringing more business in."

Mr Nagra said that the new branding left him £350 out of pocket, but that he thought it was ‘money well spent’.

The father-of-two added: “It is just a laugh and we hope it will put West Allotment on the map.

“When we posted the picture of the new name on our Facebook page, we had more than 10,000 views in less than 24 hours, which was just mad.

“I have seen people of all ages walking past giggling to themselves.

“People have driven past and pulled over so that they can take a photograph.

“It’s all a bit of fun and the customers love it.

“It is just a laugh, the aim is to get people talking and that’s worked.”