WORK starts this weekend preparing the access to the Lidl supermarket being built on the edge of Wellington.

The project on Cades roundabout begins on Sunday (January 15) and is scheduled to take 21 working days to complete.

Building of the discount store is well underway after pre-construction works started last June.

The first shoppers were originally intended to shop at the Taunton Road outlet in the lead up to Christmas.

But the firm put back the date to this spring.

The new multi-million pound store is set to create around 40 new jobs.

 

The company was granted conditional planning permission for the store by Somerset West and Taunton Council a year ago following a lengthy application process.

 

Lidl was given the go ahead for a 2,098 square metre foodstore along with associated car park, landscaping and new vehicular access off Nynehead Road.

More than 500 people supported the application for the outlet at the corner of Nynehead Road and the B3187 Taunton Road.

There were 23 opponents, including Waitrose and Asda, who both have stores in the town, concerned about road safety issues and the impact the store could have on Wellington town centre.

But Lidl countered by saying customers from Wellington who travel to other towns to shop at its stores would now be able to do so locally, while there would also be a reduction in town centre traffic congestion.

The site where the Lidl supermarket is being built had been earmarked as employment land for Swallowfield and Relyon, although they more recently announced they did not wish to relocate there.