AROUND 250 permanent jobs will be created at a new supermarket due to open at Easter next year.

Property developer Terrace Hill, which has a major presence in Stockton, has signed up to build the 50,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s store in Sedgefield.

Construction of the supermarket, which will have 322 parking spaces, will start shortly, after Durham County Council planners gave the green light in December following a supportive public consultation.

The scheme is the latest in a number of supermarket jobs that Terrace Hill has recently undertaken.

Its foodstore development business has built three major supermarkets in the last couple of years, including one in Bishop Auckland.

It currently has supermarket projects under way or on the cards in Sunderland, Skelton in East Cleveland and Middlehaven in Middlesbrough. Chief executive, Philip Leech, said: “We continue to see good levels of activity in the foodstore sector and we expect the growth of our foodstore development pipeline to deliver significant returns for the business.”

The London-headquartered company said in its annual results, published earlier this month, that its foodstore business is maturing rapidly and it is disposing of its residential portfolio over the next 12 to 18 months.

Terrace Hill’s revenues almost doubled in the year to the end of September 2011, reaching £67.8m from £30.7m in 2010.

But the company also made a £10.2m pre-tax loss, dropping from a £17.9m profit 12 months earlier, mainly because of a £4.1m loss due to property revaluations. The business, set up in 1986, has offices in Glasgow, Bristol and Manchester in addition to London and the North East.