WORK is due to start within the next three weeks on a multi-million pound shopping and leisure development in Trowbridge.

Developer Thiyan Investments Ltd will start the first stages of the £25m redevelopment of the former Tesco site at St Stephen's Place before the end of January.

Thiyan spokesman Simon Hoare said: "It is a great pleasure to get started, not only for the benefit it is going to bring to this site in particular but because it is going to be a major incentive for retail development in the town.

"We are confident our development is going to act as a catalyst for even more development in the town which will make Trowbridge an even better place to live."

The developer first plans to demolish the now derelict old Tesco building and replace it with a complex including shops, a gym, restaurant and bar and car parking.

The developer will also refurbish the Castle Place shopping precinct, improving lighting, CCTV, and disabled access. A planning application was submitted for this phase of the project last week.

The scheme will create up to 100 permanent jobs in the town as well as 150 temporary demolition and construction jobs.

There will be some disruption to shoppers and workers, with parking spaces being reduced while some stages of the work are carried out.

Another major redevelopment project in the town has faced many hurdles and is still waiting for the final go-ahead.

Developer Mystique Ltd was refused permission by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office for housing on the 8.5-acre former Ushers bottling plant site in the town in September.

A new application was submitted in November but the developer has submitted revised plans, containing minor changes, in the last few weeks.

The developer already has permission for retail and leisure facilities on the former brewery site but has warned one element of the development cannot go ahead without the other.