A ‘state-of-the-art’ supermarket is set to open in Weston after it was granted planning permission by North Somerset Council.

The new Lidl store in Winterstoke Road is expected to bring up to 40 jobs to the area once it is opened.

It will be built on the former William Knowles Centre, previously used by the Brandon Trust to provide services for people with learning disabilities.

The council declared the land surplus to requirements in 2011, when the services were relocated to the @Worle Community Centre at Worle Community School.

The council’s planning and regulatory committee voted to approve the supermarket chain’s application at its latest meeting on January 13.

Lidl’s South West head of property James Mitchell told the meeting: “The development represents (an opportunity) for us to provide a second store in Weston to complement our existing store in Worle.

“It gives us the opportunity to design a state-of-the-art flagship store with an up-to-date design and brighter aisles. It will also support sustainability.”

Permission for the scheme was granted subject to the resolution of concerns about highways and access to the site. Council officers had raised concerns that the site’s proximity to the new cross-airfield link roundabout – which will connect homes at Locking Parklands to the M5 motorway – could create a risk of collisions.

The council’s executive member for highways Elfan Ap Rees said: “It is extremely important we make sure the highways access is correct.

“Winterstoke Road is a busy road now and the nature of it will change when the cross-airfield link is built, for better or worse.”