CONSTRUCTION work on a new multi-million pound retail park which will resurrect a barren brownfield site has begun in Lidget Green.

A letter has been posted to nearby residents notifying them of the work, which is expected to go on until December.

The scheme, on the former Fields printers and packaging site at Scott Works in Hollingwood Lane, was given unanimous approval by Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee last August.

The shopping park will feature an Aldi supermarket, a Home Bargains, Heron Foods, Greggs, a drive-through Starbucks café, and a Marstons family pub, and has one further unit to be occupied on completion, along with a shared 170 space car park.

A number of conditions have been put on the development against the applicant’s wishes, including a condition that units cannot be knocked together to create larger shops or divided up to create smaller ones.

The drive-through has also been restricted for use by a coffee and sandwich shop only, so it cannot become a fast-food restaurant or takeaway in the future.

Steve Buckley, agent for applicant Quora Bradford Limited, said the development represented a “multi-million pound investment” in the local area and would create jobs for local people. Around 185 jobs are expected to be created by the development.

Work on the site, which will be called Quora Retail Park, is being carried out by Jessops Construction.

A spokesperson for Jessops said: “Jessops Construction are delighted to have been appointed as main contractors for this significant scheme on Clayton Road.

“We are pleased to continue strengthening relationships with our clients Quora Ltd. and are excited to be involved in the project which will greatly increase the retail offer in the area, providing a great deal more choice to those who live locally.

“Ground preparation works started on site prior to the Christmas break and construction of the units with planning permission has now commenced.

“The scheme is due to run until September, when the site will be handed over to end-user fit out teams.”

Digging and other site clearance work has been taking place on the site since work began to ready the site for further works.

Hoardings were put up around the site, which is at the junction of Hollingwood Lane and Clayton Road, before Christmas, and work has begun on the site which is expected to last 42 weeks. Additional work will then continue for another 10 weeks, before the retail park is expected to open and trading in December.

Works will take place at the site from 7.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday and from 8am to 3pm on Saturdays.

Production at the site, which had been in use from 1935, finally came to a halt in October 2016, when the print works owned by MPS Packaging were closed. It was previously owned by Fields, which was founded in 1851, but the main factory on the site was demolished in 2011.