TESCO bosses will create about 300 new jobs with the planned opening next summer of a new supermarket near Alsager.

Work on the 40,000 square foot store is poised to begin in the coming weeks, and is scheduled to take between eight and nine months to complete.

The multi-million pound store will be same size as the Tesco supermarket in Macclesfield, and will feature parking for 370 cars.

The new store received the final go-ahead this week when Environment Secretary John Gummer decided not to intervene in the decision by Newcastle-under-Lyme borough councillors to grant planning approval for the supermarket.

It will be built on land between Liverpool Road and Whitehall Avenue in Kidsgrove, just outside the Congleton Borough boundary.

Tesco bosses have until Christmas to decide whether to appeal against Congleton Borough Council's rejection of their scheme for Congleton.

"We have not abandoned our interest in Congleton, but have a number of options open to us,'' said company spokesman Martin Venning.

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