THETFORD is in line for a major jobs boost after a new Wickes DIY store was given the go-ahead.Breckland planners this week backed an application for the new building to be developed on the site of the town's old Turkish delight factory.

THETFORD is in line for a major jobs boost after a new Wickes DIY store was given the go-ahead.

Breckland planners this week backed an application for the new building to be developed on the site of the town's old Turkish delight factory.

Councillors were told the new store would create up to 40 full and part-time jobs and would include a outdoor garden centre 106 car parking spaces and landscaping.

The store, which will be operated by Wickes Building Supplies and DIY, is to be built on a site to the south west of Thetford town centre and is situated on an established industrial estate.

It is bordered by London Road to the north and Burrell Way to the south.

Thetford Town Council has strongly objected to any

access point being introduced

off London Road but does not object in principle to the development.

Members of Breckland development control committee heard that there is a group of four Lawson's Cypress trees on the Burrell Way frontage and a line of 17 Scots pines on the London Road frontage, none of which are the subject of Tree Preservation Orders.

The four Cypresses would be felled to achieve sight lines for the new service yard and seven Scots pines removed for the new customer entrance.

Proposed landscaping would include the planting of 11 new Scots pine trees to replace those lost.