CONSTRUCTION work began on Trago Mills’ new £3 million development on Wednesday.

A new DIY and trade Build Centre, which will comprise 22,475 sq ft of indoor retail space and an outside display area of 13,000 sq ft, is set to open in spring 2017 at the Newton Abbot store.

Once completed the new development will create 12 new jobs.

A ‘turf cutting’ ceremony started the construction and included the company’s chairman Bruce Robertson; leader of Teignbridge Council Jeremy Christophers; and Brian Rice, operations director of Kier Construction which is carrying out the building work.

The Build Centre will be on the site of the Trago2Clear building, which closed during the summer in preparation. It will expand on the DIY range, which currently accounts for approximately 20 per cent of the store’s annual turnover, and also focus heavily on trade customers. The store will be easily accessible for customers, with its own entrance and car park, and will have extended opening hours for those in the building trade.