Discount supermarket Lidl UK said on Monday it would create 500 jobs with a new warehouse in Peterborough, central England, as it continues its rapid expansion in Britain.

Lidl, which in August overtook Waitrose to become the UK's seventh largest grocer, said the 754,000 square foot regional distribution centre will be its fifteenth and largest in the country.

The firm said the new warehouse, which requires planning consent, forms part of its plan to invest £1.45 billion ($1.93 billion) in Britain in 2017-18.

Lidl, owned by Germany’s Schwarz retail group, entered the UK in 1994 and currently trades from 670 stores, giving it a market share of 5.3 per cent, according to the latest industry data.

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-Reuters