Building work has started at a hotly-anticipated new £14million shopping centre.

The Epping Forest Shopping Park in Langston Road, Loughton, is set to open next summer after the successful start of construction work.

The first shops confirmed for the centre, taking up more than half of the 150,000sqft floor space, are TK Maxx, Aldi, Next, Smyths Toys, Mothercare and Hobbycraft.

A spokesman for Epping Forest District Council recently denied a change in policy towards discount brands, instead claiming the retailers are simply not discounters.

In an Epping Forest Guardian poll, 65 per cent of people were positive about the first confirmed brands and said they would be visiting as soon as they open.

Council chairman Jeane Lea and councillor Anne Grigg, the responsible cabinet member, visited the site on Monday (September 26).

Cllr Grigg said: “I was delighted to see the progress.

“McLaughlin and Harvey has made a cracking start.”

Following demolition work at the site, formerly a council depot, she said there is “a real perspective on the size and scale of the shopping park.

“It will be a fantastic asset and a tremendous boost to the local economy.”

The council claims about 200 permanent new jobs will be created by the shopping centre.

Rental income from the park will also provide money to help provide services and keep council tax down, it said.

It is hoped that highways work in Chigwell Lane will ease congestion on one of Essex’s busiest roads and an on-site car park will provide 350 spaces.

Project manager Alex McCalley said contractors McLaughlin and Harvey are trying to minimise disturbance for neighbours.

He said: “Years ago we would have had hundreds of lorries coming on and off site as we transported the thousands of tonnes of hardcore rubble.

“These days we are much more environmentally friendly.

“Nearly all the rubble will be recycled into the foundations of the new retail park.”