Sainsbury’s has set the date for the opening of its new Ottery store and it is less than two weeks away.

The new store manager Warren Knight confirmed the Hind Street supermarket will open its doors for business on Wednesday, October 12, with Mayor Glyn Dobson cutting the ribbon at 9am.

Warren said: “Sainsbury’s is eager to become part of the Ottery community and we’re looking forward to opening.

“With a couple of weeks to go there’s still work to do and the construction team, Kier Construction, are working hard to ensure everything is ready.”

The creation of the 22,000sq ft store has been going on in the town since the start of 2011, and Ottery’s traders say they will be glad to put the problems caused by its construction behind them.

Marc Perkins from the Ottery Chamber of Commerce said: ““We are pleased to get the construction of the store behind us and look forward to Sainsbury’s opening its doors.

“Potentially, the knock-on effect on Ottery’s other shops could be really beneficial and we look forward to seeing a positive outcome in the weeks after the store opens.”

The building work has seen car parking in Ottery severely depleted in the past few months, and Hind Street was closed with Mill Street becoming two-way to accommodate utilities work.

But once complete the supermarket will provide Ottery St Mary with 116 car parking spaces including eight disabled and five mother and toddler spaces allowing two hours free parking.

Mr Knight said he wanted encourage everyone to check out the new Sainsbury’s, and take advantage of the free parking and visit the town’s other shops, something the Chamber of Commerce were eager to emphasise.

Mr Perkins added: “Ottery already has a strong range of retail outlets that attracts shoppers from across the region.

“Ottery’s unique heritage and its range of specialist independent shops mark the town out as a great place to shop during the run up to this Christmas and beyond.”

The new store, which will be open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sundays, will include fish, deli and hot food counters, and eco features such as sun pipes, rain water harvesting and, a ‘bee hotel’ that provides the right type of habitat to support growth of the UK’s honey bees.