Construction of a new Aldi supermarket in King’s Road has been delayed for another month, the Gazette can reveal.

Developer Coplan Estates says work was due to begin in April, but the site is still being operated as a council-run car park.

Project manager Colin McQueston said the plans have been put on hold while final details are agreed with Kent County Council’s transport chiefs.

He said: “We apologise for the minor delay. We are hoping to be on site next month. We will have contractors on site this week to carry out bore hole samples.

“We are just waiting to finalise one last highways agreement with Kent County Council for the pedestrian crossing to have an anti-skid surface. It’s a fairly minor final detail.

“The crossing will link the store with the Memorial Park, and once that is resolved the scheme will be able to go ahead.”

The 18,000 sq ft store is expected to draw in a further 500,000 visitors and shoppers to the town centre every year and will create 35 jobs.

The former Saturday market had to be moved from the car park site to the town centre in May last year, while the Lions Sunday boot fair was moved to the Memorial Park.

Mr McQueston said it might take six months for construction work to be completed before the new building is handed over to the supermarket chain.

He said: “Aldi in itself will be a major attraction to the town and bring more customer footfall. The future prosperity of the town is all to do with bringing more people in.”

It is part of a revised £25 million regeneration plan for the town centre, with a second phase of work to include new shops and restaurant spaces.

Mr McQueston said the next phase could be the more expensive part of the project, adding: “We wanted to get Aldi in and under contract as the anchor store before we began phase two.”