THE first stage in the redevelopment of a divided town centre will create dozens of jobs.

Budget retailer Wilkinson will open a store in Thames Shopping Centre, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, at the end of next month, creating 59 jobs.

The site was previously home to Somerfield, which closed in April 2006 with the loss of 63 jobs.

The opening of the Wilkinson branch is stage one of a redevelopment which should see buildings forming a barrier between the two sides of the town centre demolished.

A Wilkinson spokeswoman said: “The new jobs are going to be for store-based staff, a mix of part-time and full-time positions.

“It is the third store that we have opened in the North-East in the past 12 months.

“Our stores there have been doing really well, that is one of the reasons we have been expanding.”

Newton Aycliffe town centre was divided in 2003 when Tesco opened a supermarket as part of a two-phase redevelopment project for the town.

Tesco, along with a park and several other units, was built before a deal between Sedgefield Borough Council and landlords Freshwater to revamp the other side of town was finalised.

Consequently, the library, health centre and DaltonWay block were left to fall into disrepair, forming a barrier between the two areas.

The arrival of Wilkinson is phase one in a proposed sevenphase scheme to revamp the town and link it to the Tesco supermarket site.

The demolition of the library and health centre is expected to take place in the autumn.

During the past 12 months, Wilkinson has opened stores in Thornaby and Chester-le- Street.

The Newton Aycliffe store opens on Wednesday, July 29, at 9am.

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson, whose constituency includes Newton Aycliffe, said: “I think it is excellent news. It means the town centre, that has been in need of regeneration for a while, is now starting to turn a corner.”