BOSSES behind an out-of-town development claim it is 82 per cent let and 100 people will be employed by the time it opens next month.

Work to fit out the new Next, Boots, Marks & Spencer, Pets at Home, Brantano and Costa Coffee stores at the Bishop Auckland Shopping Park, in St Helen Auckland, is underway.

However, concerns continue to be raised by Bishop Auckland residents about the potential adverse effect they feel it could have on the town centre.

Richard Wilks, managing director of Argon Properties, which is behind the site with Metric Properties, said: “When we began work on-site in March this year, we made a number of commitments to the local community.

“I am delighted that just eight months on, we have fulfilled two of those. We will be open for Christmas this year; and, most importantly, we have created a significant number of jobs.

“When Bishop Auckland Shopping Park opens next month, we will achieve our third commitment to create a place that meets the needs of local people, reducing the need to travel to other towns to shop, and helping to make Bishop Auckland even more appealing to visitors from the surrounding area.”

Bishop Auckland Councillor Sam Zair, who also runs a café in the town centre, said the full impact of the out-of-town site would not be known until it opens.

“My first thought is they have 100 jobs up there but how many have been lost through the closure of major shops in the town centre,” he said.

Mayor of Bishop Auckland, Councillor Charlie Kay added the focus should now be on securing a future for the town centre and he believes Auckland Castle will play a major role in that.

“We need to offer people something different,” he said. “Doing nothing is not an option and we need to change the way people perceive the town centre.”

Plans for an extra four units on land next to the site have been submitted and are expected to go before Durham County Council next month, as is an application by developer Gentoo for a number of shops on the former bus depot site in North Bondgate, Bishop Auckland.

West Auckland county councillor Rob Yorke said: “The shopping park brings welcome jobs and will play a key role in Bishop Auckland’s future prosperity. I am looking forward to both its opening, and the next phase of its development.”