WORK starts next week on a £25m development that will give Newton Aycliffe a huge new supermarket before Christmas.

Developers CTP, of Manchester, move on to the former Avenue comprehensive school site next week after Durham County Council completed its biggest ever land deal.

A 68,000 sq ft Tesco store will be the largest of 20 new retail units in the first phase of the project.

There will also be a replacement youth centre, a town park and a new town square. A new library, health centre and drop-in centre for older people will follow in phase two.

Sedgefield Borough Council divided the project after a dispute between the owners of the complex and the developers had held up progress.

The 16-acre site is the last large area of land likely to become available in Newton Aycliffe.

The CTP development was seen as a golden opportunity to improve the town centre.

Announcing the start date, county council leader Ken Manton said: "The overall completion of the scheme will make a lasting contribution to the heart of the town, and the provision of the first phase alone will provide Newton Aycliffe with some marvellous new facilities.

"This has been the biggest single land deal ever negotiated by the council and has involved a complex mass of legal and technical details."