TESCO is to step up the competition in the Galway grocery trade by opening a larger than usual supermarket near the city.

Construction is already well advanced on the Oranmore Town Centre which is due to open in December next.

The first phase of the scheme will include the 4,645sq m (50,000sq ft) supermarket and a further 1,858sq m (20,000sq ft) of ancillary retail units where leasing deals have already been completed with Evergreen Health Care, Arabica Coffee, McInerney Sports and Pisces Fish Emporium.

The development has been designed as an extension to Oranmore town.

Some of the new buildings link up with the main street and have ground floor shops with residential accommodation on the upper floors. The centrepiece of the scheme will be a large, landscaped square with a good mixture of shops and amenity space.

Aidan Gavin of letting agent DTZ Sherry FitzGerald said Tesco’s decision to open one of its largest stores in Oranmore was a huge vote of confidence in the area.