Three hundred more parking spaces are being created at an expanding shopping centre.

The £1 million project at Gretna Gateway Outlet village will take the centre’s parking capacity to 1,100 spaces.

Work has started on the new north car park as part of a scheme that follows another phase of expansion last year and record numbers of shoppers.

The centre’s owners have hailed the development as another sign of their success as savvy shoppers look for discounted brands at reduced prices.

It will be the Gateway’s third parking area, adding to one at the main centre and an overflow in front of the nearby Garden House Hotel.

The north car park will be on land next to the town’s police station on Glasgow Road, 100 metres from the M&S Outlet store.

Gretna Gateway general manager Peter Gardner said: “Our new north car park will enable us and our tenants to fully maximise our trading potential in the years ahead and will relieve any pressure on the surrounding roads on our busiest days.”

The site of the car park, which has stood empty for a number of years, has been bought from Dumfries and Galloway Council. Work on it is due to be completed by October.

Shopper numbers at the centre are rising, with 2015 marking a seventh successive year of growth, part fuelled by the opening of Next Outlet store and Jacques Vert. Even without those newcomers, like-for-like sales were up three per cent.

Mr Gardner, who has been in-charge of the centre since it opened in 1999, added: “We have enjoyed exceptional success in recent years.

“Gretna Gateway now employs more than 560 people and hosts an impressive tenant line-up, including the recently-arrived international footwear brand, Skechers.

“This new car park will help us to further develop the business, delivering a first-class shopping experience for our customers and cementing our role as a leading shopping destination and important employer.”

The north Car Park will be open every day, but locked and secure overnight. It will have lighting, CCTV, parent and child parking and a traffic-light-controlled pedestrian crossing.

Work taking place will include creating an enhanced entrance and walkway to the M&S Outlet side of the centre.

Outlet villages offer big brands at discounted prices.

Gretna Gateway has more than 50 retailers and cafes including M&S, Nike, GAP, Clarks, Molton Brown, Berghaus, Polo, Ralph Lauren and Costa.