THE ground was broken today on a new development which could see around 250 jobs brought to the area.

Delivery Firm TNT will be opening a new ‘super-depot’ in the town and hope to have it operational by the summer.

It will be located on the G Park, next to the B&Q depot, and today MP for Swindon North Justin Tomlinson joined the developers to start laying the foundations.

The company say they believe it will be bring up to 250 jobs for drivers, loading bay operatives and other roles, although not all of these will be full-time.

Simon Harper, director of operations TNT UK, said: “We have been looking to come to Swindon for some time so we are really pleased to have started work on this depot.

“Coupled with TNT’s £35m investment in its fleet of vehicles, the new Swindon centre will enable us to cut delivery times and reduce our carbon footprint.

“Swindon is ideally located for us because of its proximity to key infrastructure.

“We have found the town very welcoming and Forward Swindon has been very helpful getting us over the line. At this stage we have not worked out the logistic as to exactly how many jobs it will provide but it will be in the region of 250.

“Given the nature of our business they won’t all be full-time positions.”

The site is approximately 55,000 sq ft and will have more than 100 loading bays to accommodate around 40 long-haul trailers.

Developers IDI Gazeley,who are building the depot, say they hope to finish within 24 weeks before a phased opening of the site.

Nigel Godfrey, executive director and UK Country Head for IDI Gazeley, said: “We are very pleased to have been chosen by TNT to develop this important new, state of the art parcel delivery distribution warehouse under construction at G Park Swindon.”

Mr Tomlinson said: “This is another huge vote of confidence in our growing Swindon economy that will bring more than 200 jobs to the town.

“This is a reason why there has been a fall in unemployment by 58 per cent since 2010.

“I am very proud that our plan has made a real difference and we are continuing to attract more and more businesses like TNT.”