A SUPERMARKET giant hoping to build a new store in Colchester has agreed to train and employ up to 70 jobless residents.

Sainsbury’s has applied to Colchester Council for permission to build a 150,000 sq ft store at Tollgate, Stanway.

The chain says its existing store, at Tollgate West, is no longer big enough for its growing number of customers.

It is seeking planning permission for the store, plus 875 parking spaces, and an eight-pump petrol station, on unused land between London Road and Essex Yeomanry Way.

Council officials are set to decide whether to grant permission in the near future.

If the application succeeds, it is hoped the store would open within the next year.

Unemployed people would be put on an eight-week training programme and given a guaranteed interview at the new Tollgate store, as part of an agreement with Colchester Council, the first of its kind in Essex.

As part of a three-year strategy to increase overall employment levels by 1,500 people in time for 2010, the council has made a legal agreement with Sainsbury’s.

Such agreements have previously seen developers give money for community projects or build schools or play areas as a condition of planning permission being granted by the local authority, but has never before included promises of training and employment.

Jim Leask, senior enterprise officer at Colchester Council, said: “We have a written agreement with Sainsbury’s they will work with us and our partners, Jobcentre Plus, Colchester Institute and employment advisers Signpost, to train anyone who is interested in working with them.

“They will learn skills such as customer service, hygiene and manual handling.

“This is a fantastic scheme for the town because it will teach unemployed people new skills and help them get work.”