By Jenny Barwise

Last updated 12:37, Monday, 21 July 2008

Supermarket giant Tesco is poised to move a step closer to building a new store in the county.

Glimpse: An artist's impression of the proposed Tesco store at Laundry Field, Workington

A legal planning agreement between the company and Allerdale Council is expected to be signed within a fortnight.

Once in place, Tesco bosses say they plan to start construction work in Workington as soon as possible.

Planning permission was granted by Allerdale Council in January to build a 92,900sq ft store on the town’s Laundry Field on The Cloffocks.

At the time permission was given, Tesco bosses said that they hoped the store would be open early next year.

They said it would take about nine months to build.

The store will be three times the size of Workington’s current Tesco on New Bridge Road and the largest in the county. It will create 200 jobs in addition to the 300 at the current store and will have 700 car parking spaces, a petrol station and a café

It will offer a range of goods including DVDs, videos, kitchenware, electrical goods, clothes and shoes.

Allerdale Council controversially sold the site – home to the Uppies and Downies game – to Tesco for £18 million.

Protesters argued for years that The Cloffocks was given to the people of Workington and that the local authority had no right to sell it off.

No evidence, however, emerged to support their claims.

The £18 million will be used for a regeneration scheme to improve the town’s sports stadiums and to pay for the Derwent Valley regeneration scheme.

JBarwise@cngroup.co.uk