SUPERMARKET giant Lidl has announced the highly-anticipated opening date of its new Shoebury store, creating 40 new jobs.

The store - in Campfield Road - will be ready to open on February 18, and is the next in the line of Lidl supermarkets across south Essex.

The latest build forms part of the company’s huge investment plans across the country for 2021 and 2022, as their head to head competition with Aldi for south Essex domination continues.

And the new supermarket will feature facilities including a huge sales area, a bakery, 140 parking spaces cars and a space for bicycles, as well as customer toilets.

Shoppers will be able to visit from 8am to 10pm from Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays. 

Last year, both Lidl and Aldi announced plans to open a combined 14 new shops across south Essex, including in Basildon, Canvey, Leigh, Rayleigh, Rochford/Hockley, Shoebury and Stanford-Le-Hope/Corringham.

Lidl is still set to press ahead with its plans for at least two new stores to open this year - one being Shoebury and another in Laindon.

Welcoming the news, Shoebury councillor Nick Ward said: “It’s always a good thing having more jobs for the area and it gives residents another offer to shop from. It’s quite exciting.

“You’ve got Asda and Sainsbury’s there, but you need to have diversity and choice too. Lidl and Aldi are always so busy and are doing exceptionally well. I’ve used them for years.

“My only concern is that a lot are worried about flooding down there, there’s three foot of water there at the moment. I hope this won’t add to the problem.”

Shoebury resident David Shindler, 42, believes the build will be good for the area, but is also concerned over potential flooding.

He said: “The more local shops have been decimated by the bigger stores, we used to have green grocers and bits like that, but now it’s a ghost town.

“But Lidl offers a much better value and is very welcome, my wife goes to the one in Southend and she’s very happy about it. A little competition doesn’t hurt, I think this is a really good thing.

“But the area it’s built on is a flood plain. It’s more the car park area and the bit behind there which floods, and that road often floods too. It will be interesting to see what happens, just make sure you get the wellies out when you go!”

A Lidl spokesman said: “We want to reassure residents that we have undertaken a robust flood risk assessment, which was approved by the Lead Local Flood Authority.

"Our store has also been constructed with all necessary flood mitigation measures in place, including permeable paving areas and attenuation tanks under the carpark.”