THE new Warrington Wolves stadium and Tesco development looks set to provide a massive regeneration and jobs boost for the whole town.

Members of Warrington Borough Council's planning committee met last week to back the scheme that will benefit the forgotten corner of Warrington town centre - land off Winwick Road.

And the scheme will not just create a state-of-the-art home for the Wolves - council chief executive Steven Broomhead says it will provide a huge jobs boost for the town.

He explained: "It is good news for the town not only in terms of a new community sports facility but also in terms of the regeneration and the jobs it is going to produce.

"We are now in discussions with Tesco about targeting areas in terms of new jobs and establishing a partnership project with the council which will target areas such as Bewsey, Dallam, Fairfield, Longford and Howley.

"There was a similar one in Leeds and it is important from the fact that there will be a new stadium but there are other regeneration benefits such as this particular project."

The first meeting between the supermarket giants and the council took place this week and further discussions will now take place with more than 300 jobs likely to be on offer.

Although the job opportunities will not exclusively be for people from those areas, the council and Tesco will target them.

The planning permission granted last week means that work on the 14,000 capacity stadium will begin next month with the gates ready to open in time for the first game of 2004.

Council planners have confirmed the Tesco store cannot open its doors for business before the stadium is ready to host its first game, so the store could be open by Christmas 2003.