A KFC drive-through restaurant and a petrol station with a convenience store are the first businesses to buy a plot on a new £140 million industrial park.

Work has started on the Euro Garages roadside retail development at Forrest Park, Newton Aycliffe.

Forrest Park (Newton Aycliffe) Limited, a joint venture by Durham County Council and local landowners the Forrest family, has signed an agreement with Richardson Barberry to develop the 110-acre site.

The ambition is that over the next ten years, the park will provide 1.8m square feet of industrial space and create over 3,000 jobs, boosting County Durham’s economy by almost half a billion pounds.

To ensure the park is fully developed, despite any difficult times that may be ahead as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Richardson Barberry has committed to seeing the project through and has signed a development deal.

The site is an extension of Aycliffe Business Park, making that the largest in the North East.

It will accommodate a range of business, industrial, warehouse and trade units, as well as a 60-bed hotel, public house, roadside restaurant and retail space next to the A1(M).

The signing of the agreement with Richardson Barberry and the first development by Euro Garages have been described as significant steps in the first stages of the park’s progress, demonstrating a continued developer confidence in the county as a place to invest.

The council says the the park is part of its long-term ambitions to create a thriving environment for businesses and investors to develop and grow while creating and safeguarding more and better jobs – which it believes is crucial to the county’s economic recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Councillor Carl Marshall, cabinet member for economic regeneration, said: “The signing of this development agreement by Richardson Barberry is a significant milestone for Forrest Park, as it declares globally that the park is officially open for business.

“This first sale of land is just the start of what the park has to offer in boosting the county’s economy, particularly in its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, by attracting international investors to the county from across the globe and in turn creating thousands of high-quality jobs for our local residents.

“We look forward to welcoming more retailers and businesses to the park as its development grows.”

Neil Findlay, development manager for Euro Garages, said: “Working closely with the Forrest Park (Newton Aycliffe) Limited team, we were delighted to complete the acquisition of this site at Forrest Park.

“As an organisation we look forward to bringing our first in class roadside retail offer to the park and the wider Newton Aycliffe area.”

Jonathan Robinson, Barberry Industrial director and shareholder, said: “Barberry, and 50/50 joint venture partners Richardson, are excited at the prospect of delivering one of the North East’s premier business parks, stimulating economic growth and creating new jobs for the region.

“We have made significant progress over recent months and we are now delighted to be in the position to launch the site to potential occupiers. This is a highly attractive location for a range of major businesses, with units available in a wide range of sizes.

“We can provide building options for smaller occupiers on the trade park and bigger building options of circa 20,000 square feet to one million square feet footprint on the site.

“Local, regional, national and international occupiers have already expressed interest in this prominent, motorway-connected, serviced and consented site, which is oven-ready for development and has access to an excellent, skilled labour demographic.”