WORK is under way on a new Co-op convenience store as part of a £1.25m town retail development that could create around 40 jobs.

Two buildings with a combined floor space of 8,150sq feet are being constructed on the site of a former chicken farm on Monmouth’s Rockfield Road, 500 yards from the town centre.

The Co-op have taken a lease on one of the buildings, while there will be three units in the other one.

News that the retail giant will be opening a store in the town this summer comes three weeks after the closure of the Budgens supermarket beside the bus station, with the loss of some 20 jobs.

Julian Painter, a director with site developer Henry Boot, said: “We hope to finish the work by the end of June, with trading expected to start in July and August.

“A veterinary practice has taken on one of the smaller units, and we are currently negotiating with interested parties over the other two and hope to make an announcement within the next month.

“We are also providing £16,000 towards a new pelican crossing beside the units on Rockfield Road.”

The site opposite Overmonnow School is on the west side of the River Monnow, a third of a mile from the historic Monnow Bridge and the high street.

There are expected to be 11 full-time and 13 part-time jobs at the Co-op, which will serve the rapidly growing Rockfield estate, where new house building is in full flow. The other three units are expected to provide up to 15 jobs.

Last week, the Co-op hailed a rise in national like-for-likes sales of 3.5 per cent in its convenience business, and said it was the fastest growing grocer outside of the discounters on a like-for-like sales basis.

It said it had ploughed £173m into new stores and refits, opening 112 new stores and refitting 155 others over the last year.

As well as providing a jobs boost, the new retail development in Monmouth, which also includes car parking, will remove a longstanding eyesore from the town, as the chicken sheds have been derelict for many years.