INITIAL clearance works on the long-awaited Aldi store site at the “eyesore” gateway to Pembroke Dock, which is expected to create up to 40 jobs, started last week.

Aldi applications for a store at the former Waterloo Garage site, next the A477 London Road, have a history going back many years.

Full planning permission to build an Aldi food store and a car park at the site, was granted in November 2009, with a condition that construction must start within five years.

Just days before that permission was due to expire in November 2014, an Aldi application came before the county council’s planning committee, asking for the time limit on the proposed 1,280sq metre application to be extended; which was approved unanimously.

More recently, an application to extend the store size to 1,804m sq, with a floor space of 1,254m sq was given the go-ahead.

Aldi says the store would create up to 40 full and part-time jobs at £8.40 per hour when built.

A spokesman for Aldi said: “We are excited to be preparing for the construction of the new store on London Road.

“We are extremely grateful for the local community’s continued support for the proposed store, which will further enhance the town and boost the local economy.

“The new store represents a significant investment into the immediate Pembroke Dock area and we intend to consolidate this by hiring local people wherever possible. I would encourage residents interested in working for Aldi to visit the recruitment webpage at www.Aldi.co.uk”

The application includes 108 customer car parking spaces, seven parent and child spaces and four designated spaces for disabled users, 10 cycle spaces, and nine staff spaces.

Pembroke Dock Mayor Peter Kraus described the news as “brilliant,” adding: “That will be a really good attraction for Pembroke Dock, it will be a huge bonus; it’s been an eyesore for so many years; to have them there will be a big attraction for the town.”