THESE computer-generated images show how Weymouth’s newest supermarket will look.

The Sainsbury’s store will be going up in the next few months at the £60million Weymouth Gateway site, creating hundreds of new jobs.

The 7,170 sq m store, petrol station and 519-space car park will be built on land currently occupied by New Look’s offices, distribution centre and warehouse. At 11 metres high, the supermarket will not be as tall as the distribution centre.

The store, sited just across the railway from Morrisons, but which bosses say will increase customer choice in the area, will include sustainable features to reduce its carbon footprint including a biomass boiler to generate heat. A planting scheme is also planned.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council approved the Gateway masterplan last year and the job of the planning and traffic committee this week was to approve the details of the supermarket application, which it did unanimously.

Planning consultant Simon Metcalf told councillors the ‘attractive’ store would be an ‘integral’ part of the Gateway and said the company was keen to get building.

Mr Metcalf added: “We’re delighted to bring forward a foodstore at Weymouth Gateway which will contribute significantly to the economic success of the town.

“The detailed design has been the subject of helpful pre-application discussion and the resulting design is considered to be of a high quality and be in keeping with the character and style of development emerging on the Gateway site.”

The store would create up to 400 jobs, both full and part-time covering a range of skill levels from staff on the shop floor to managerial positions.

Sainsbury’s is one element of the 35-acre Weymouth Gateway site which is taking shape.

Staff at New Look will receive the keys to their new three-storey head office in Mercery Road at the end of this month and will move in over the next few weeks.

Budget hotel chain Premier Inn is opening a 60-bedroom hotel and a Beefeater Grill at the site. This will create 65 jobs and is expected to open in February.

Approximately 180,000sq ft of office, light industrial and warehouse units is being developed in phases.

In all, around 1,000 jobs will be created at the Weymouth Gateway over the next two years.