Ashford’s new Aldi store will open in the summer, it has been announced.

The discount German supermarket, which will sit next to the new £1.7 million Chapel Down brewery in Victoria Road, will create 40 new jobs.

Work on the supermarket began after permission was gained in 2016, but it was then postponed so a new electricity substation could be installed.

A number of diggers have now moved onto the site as contractors start preparing the land.

Cllr Graham Galpin, Ashford Borough Council portfolio holder for the town centre, thinks the store will be very well received.

“I think it will be an enormous success,” he said.

“Developing Victoria Way is an important part of the jigsaw that makes Ashford work as it will encourage people to come from the Designer Outlet into the town centre.

“It will link it up and make it a continuous experience.”

The Aldi store, which will feature 93 parking spaces and will be built opposite Watling Tyres, is set to open from 6am to 11pm, Monday to Saturday.

It will also open on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, and will have room for five disabled spaces.

Aldi spokesman Hannah Twist could not give a precise date, but said the 18,500 sq ft store will open to shoppers in the summer.

Alongside the store, bosses at the Chapel Down winery in Tenterden are building a £1.25 million brewery, which is also expected to open later this year.

Cllr Galpin added: “I think there is a gap in the market for the Aldi.

“There is an enormous residential area over the other side of the river there so people will find it very handy, as perhaps Lidl at the other end of town would be too far away for them.

“Chapel Down is probably more important than Aldi as it will service a whole different generation – it will be a stepping stone into the town centre.”