A construction company will soon be chosen to begin work to build a food hub in Weston-super-Mare.

North Somerset Council wants to build the £9million food innovation centre in the junction 21 enterprise area.

It has already submitted a planning application to build FoodWorks SW, which would have food labs and areas for people to develop products in.

MORE: 10 of the best places to sample Somerset food and drink.

The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership has agreed to fund the project, but the council must first ask a contractor to assess the building costs.

If signed off by the council’s deputy leader Elfan Ap Rees, Willmott Dixon Construction will be asked to prepare quotes for the work, at a cost of £545,000.

This money will be covered by the LEP once the overall funding is confirmed.

If planning consent is given, FoodWorks would be the only centre in the West of England region offering product development and testing services to producers.