Dozens of jobs on way to Shropshire as national chains move in

A new Lidl supermarket will be built in Oswestry on the site of the JT Hughes car dealership in Victoria Road along with three other shops, including a Pets At Homes store. Permission for the development has been granted by planning officers at Shropshire Council.

Meanwhile, McDonald's will create 20 jobs following a £300,000 refurbishment of it's drive-thru restaurant on Whitchurch's bypass. Work will start at the Wrexham Road site on Monday, but bosses say they will be hiring new staff over the coming months.

Christian Hawley, property director for Lidl, said work on the site in Oswestry will start as soon as possible.

He said: "Usually we would say we'll start work as soon as possible, but on this occasion it is slightly different as we need JT Hughes to move out first so that will take about 12 months and then we would start on site. The store should be open a further six months after that, so 18 months total time."

The Lidl store will bring the equivalent of 20 full-time jobs, and the remaining 30 will be provided by the other three stores on the site.

Concerns had been raised by members of Trinity Residents' Association over increased traffic and parking problems. But Lidl has agreed to put traffic signals at the junction of Victoria Road and Shrewsbury Road, outside the new store, which it says should help improve the traffic situation.

Consent was granted by planning officers at Shirehall using delegated powers as no objections were raised by Oswestry Town Council or other statutory bodies consulted.

Lidl had also hoped to open a new store in Mill Lane, Welshpool, creating up to 40 jobs, but the plans were turned down by Powys County Council earlier this year.

Work at the McDonald's in Whitchurch will include creating a second drive-through lane and more car parking spaces and making changes inside the store to make the operation more efficient. Franchisee Ralph Parker said the development of the store would be a big boost to the area.

He said: "We are making an investment in the drive-thru so we can keep up with the demand for business.

"We will also change our cooking platform to make it more efficient, and we are also creating more car parking spaces.

"We expect it to drive our sales and are looking to recruit about 20 people over the next couple of months."

The drive-thru lane area will be closed from Monday for about 10 days, and the restaurant will then fully close on October 18 for four days.