A NEW Lidl supermarket at Dinan Way is set to open within 18 months. Exmouth s largest employer, Eurotech, has teamed up with the national discount supermarket to share a site at Dinan Way.

A NEW Lidl supermarket at Dinan Way is set to open within 18 months.

Exmouth's largest employer, Eurotech, has teamed up with the national discount supermarket to share a site at Dinan Way.

The plans hinge on the demolition of the existing Eurotech unit to make way for a new supermarket and state-of-the-art factory.

The scheme would retain the 140 jobs at the factory - and create an additional 25 to 35 jobs at the supermarket.

Consent in principle was given by district planners in December, but a spokesman for Lidl said full planning consent had been signed off only recently.

He said: "Although planning was agreed in December, there have been various legal agreements to sign, which is standard, and full planning consent was given only about four weeks ago.

"The conditions of the application ask for the new Eurotech factory to be built in advance (of the store.)

"Work on the factory should start within four to six weeks, and could take 10 months to complete.

"It could take another five to six months to build a new store, so 18 months is a reasonable time scale."

The plans would unlock 'unusable' land on the current Eurotech three-acre site, allowing the construction of a circuit building factory and a Lidl store.

Plans have been drawn up to build on an L-shaped acre of undeveloped land, situated to the front and side of Eurotech.

Eurotech's new factory will take over the existing car park at the rear of the site, and the Lidl store will be developed on the current Eurotech factory site, facing Salterton Road.

Both businesses would share vehicle access off Dinan Way, but would be fully self-contained with separate parking.