A HILLTOP town which was blighted by the foot-and-mouth crisis has welcomed plans for a supermarket, which it hopes will set it on the road to revival.

The store and its car park will be built on the site of a former petrol station in the centre of Tow Law.

It is believed work will start in the first half of the year and the supermarket will be open by the end of the summer.

Councillor Ron Grogan, who represents Tow Law on Wear Valley District Council, said it marked the start of good times ahead for residents.

He said: "This is the first modern supermarket we will have had in Tow Law since the 60s or 70s and this is the first step towards the renaissance of the town.

"After all the problems we had with foot-and-mouth, we were promised quite a lot of money from the Government and this is good news for us. Things are on the up."

The store will be 36.5 metres by 16.2 metres with parking spaces for 16 cars, including one disabled place.

It will create eight jobs and the site will be accessed by two existing entrances from the A68.

Developers have yet to reveal what the store will be.

The plans follow hot on the heels of a development of 65 houses on the former cattle mart site, directly over the road.

Work starts on the development in the new year and it is believed some of the first houses will be completed by August.

Coun Grogan said: "We did get a lot of bad publicity during the foot-and-mouth-crisis but Tow Law is a great place to live.

"It is very accessible in the sense that it is on route to all sorts of key places in the North-East - and the views are fantastic.

"It is the aim of the town council to increase awareness of the town and eventually establish it as the top commuter town in the North-East.

"Both the supermarket and the housing development are a nice way to kick-start this.''