Waitrose, which gained planning permission last October, will transform the site into one of its largest supermarkets in the country, complete with a 320-space underground car park and new shops and bars lining the A51.

The new store will be the mainstay of a £40m mixed-use development, which will include a series of smaller retail units fronting Boughton Road as well as new public realm and a pedestrian bridge crossing the Shropshire Union Canal.

The area plans will also see the former St Paul’s Primary School site turned into a 120-bedroom hotel and new office blocks under separate building contracts.

Architect HOW has worked with Broadway Malyan on the supermarket scheme, which is designed to achieve a BREEAM Outstanding rating.

Diggers have already moved onto the site for soil investigations before the building programme gets under way.

A Waitrose pokesman said: “We’re still a little way off from opening but are really looking forward to be coming to Chester.”

Building is due to start in the New Year and is expected to take up to 18 months.