A NEW branch of a national coffee shop chain will open in Wickford next month.

Building work is underway to create a new Costa store, in High Street, in a unit formerly occupied by St Luke’s Hospice.

The company has confirmed the store will open in early June, creating eight to ten jobs. A Costa spokesman said: “As with all of our new store openings we will do all that we can to integrate ourselves with the local community, getting involved with events, providing the store as a meeting place and helping with fundraising.”

St Luke’s Hospice has since reopened in a new shop in the Ladygate Centre after it was forced to move when Costa made a higher offer for the lease on the High Street unit.