SUPERMARKET chain Asda is to bring a jobs boost to the North-East with news announced today of plans for a clothing distribution centre.

The company has applied for planning permission to develop a 380,000sq ft depot to distribute its hugely popular George line of clothing to its stores across the North.

The news comes only a week after Nissan announced plans to develop its latest car at its Wearside plant, about a mile from the Asda site, adding 200 jobs.

The clothing centre would be on a site next to the company's regional food distribution centre, off the A1231 Sunderland Highway, in Wash- ington, Wearside.

The £40m development could be operating in 18 months, providing 700 jobs on top of the 1,000 already at the neighbouring food distribution centre and stores in Sunderland and Washington.

Asda Stores distribution director David Gibbons said the site provided excellent connections to the A1(M), A19 and the rest of the North-East road network.

"It will complement our existing facility in Washington, making it a major Asda hub and it builds on the excellent links we already have with the local community," he said.

The depot would store and distribute the George line of clothing, which accounts for an increasing proportion of sales at Asda and owner Walmart stores around the world.

Councillor Dave Allan, the Sunderland City Council member for management and business investment, said it was another "feather in our cap".

The proposal is expected to go through the council's planning process in coming weeks, but Coun Allan said he did not expect it to hit any hurdles.