retail giant Homebase has taken a 20-year lease on a £3.5m DIY superstore to be built on Ledbury's Lower Road Trading estate.

Work on the new retail outlet is expected to begin next week.

The venue, comprising 21,000 square feet of DIY floor space and a 10,000 square feet garden centre, will be opened as a Homebase store in the late summer.

Homebase spokesman Lucy Cox said around 40 full- and part-time jobs will be created on the sales floor and in the warehouse, with recruitment beginning in the spring.

The Mayor of Ledbury, Coun Keith Francis, said: "I welcome the creation of jobs in the area, but I hope it will not be to the detriment of established businesses in the town centre."

His concern was echoed by Len Huff, chairman of the Ledbury Independent Traders' Association.

He said "I'm very concerned about the effect this will have on my fellow traders."

Herefordshire Council has attempted to alleviate concern by placing conditions on the planning permission forbidding Homebase from selling specific categories of goods.

Among the items which cannot be sold are clothing, footwear, cutlery, crockery, glassware, jewellery, clocks, watches, toys, camping and travel goods, books and stationary, medical goods, sports equipment, furniture, carpets and electrical white goods, other than those used in gardens, patios or conservatories.

Mr Huff said: "LITA will monitor the situation to see if there are breaches of the planning conditions and we demand that all conditions be met."

Wrekin Construction will move on to the site on Monday to start building work for the owners, Pettifer Estates of Shipston-on-Stour.

Andrew Stanley, associate director for Pettifer Estates, said: "It's a real feather in the cap for Ledbury that Homebase is coming here. They are one of the top three DIY stores in the UK.

"We believe the new store will increase the tourist industry within this already thriving town. The catchment for this store is approximately 17,000."

Before planning consent was granted, Pettifer Estates agreed to provide £40,000 towards new coach parking facilities in Ledbury and extra cycle routes.

Homebase, part of the Argos group of companies, already has nearly 300 stores across the UK, including ones at Hereford and three around Worcester.