Instant supermarket, just add Tesco! But parking problems ahead...

Work on building the new Tesco temporary store at the Yate Shopping Centre will start on Monday, 24th January with the store scheduled to open on Monday, 28th February. First they will lay the foundations for the temporary store next to the existing toilet block in East Walk., then they will start assembling it on Saturday 29th January. Putting it together will take just two days as the store will be delivered pre-fabricated on a fleet of over 20 lorries.

It's bound to cause parking confusion because the north car park adjacent to Link Road and Station Road will be out of use. The new car parking spaces on the site of the former Swan public house will still be available, as will all the other spaces in the Shopping Centre including the overflow car park in Link Road.

The toilets in East Walk will be open for customer use throughout the construction programme.

Meanwhile surfacing work for the new bus station and on the Link Road is going on, and Link Road will re-open fully on Monday 17th January. The new bus station is scheduled to open on 31st January.

Commenting on the works, Yate Shopping Centre Manager, Andrew Lowrey, said: “We are entering the most critical phase of the works as we head towards the demolition of the existing Tesco store. However they will continue to trade throughout the construction period from the temporary store.

“By Christmas 2011, the Shopping Centre will have a new Tesco Extra store and more additional retail units coming on stream shortly after. The works will cause some disruption but it’s for the long-term benefit of the traders and the town’s residents.

“We are encouraging traders and their staff to use public transport to get to work and shoppers to use the overflow car park in Link Road. It is imperative that we all work together to get through what is going to be very challenging times and we hope that everybody will look at alternative means of getting to the centre other than by car.”