Work on a £20m supermarket development in Tyne and Wear is well underway, with construction workers spotted at the site.

Work on the former Houghton Colliery site to build a Home Bargains and Tesco development is well underway, with diggers and construction workers now ever present.

The combined 65,000sq ft site in Houghton-le-Spring will also include a Tesco Petrol station and a 300 bay car park, bringing around 100 new jobs to the area.

Read more: Work starts on Tesco and Home Bargains stores at Houghton Colliery

Images taken on August 1 show construction is progressing quickly across the site with the official opening date expected to be Spring 2024.

This comes after the site has been empty for over 40 years, until it was sold to developers Hellens Group and Fintry Estates in 2019.

Cllr Kevin Johnson, Dynamic City Cabinet Member at Sunderland City Council, has previously said: “The redevelopment of the former Houghton Colliery site is a project we have been working on for some time, so we’re absolutely thrilled to see work progressing on the scheme.”

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Gavin Cordwell-Smith, chief executive at Hellens Group previously said: “We are delighted to begin clearance work on the former colliery site with construction due to commence in May this year.

“As a Sunderland-based company, we are committed to supporting local regeneration projects and seeing the area benefit from multi-million pound developments.

"The support from Sunderland City Council has been invaluable in unlocking this particularly challenging brownfield site.”