SIXTY new jobs will be created by the opening of two shops in Witney.

The news of the jobs was welcomed yesterday by the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, which has seen a number of people seeking advice during the recession.

On Friday, the 99p Stores will be launched in the former Woolworths shop, in High Street, bringing with it 30 jobs.

Also this week, work started on clearing a site in Ducklington Lane for budget supermarket Lidl.

Lidl spokesman, Simon Wilson, said that when the supermarket opened in the summer, a further 30 jobs would be created.

CAB manager, Barbara Shaw, who said the number of calls to the bureau had risen by 200 per cent this year, welcomed the new jobs.

She said: “We are very pleased as we have been very much under pressure here with many people who are coming to us for advice because they have been made redundant. Any new jobs coming into the area can be only good news for people as there is a real struggle in the Witney area, where a lot of people are getting into a situation where they are either losing their job or under threat of redundancies.”

More than 100 workers have been made redundant at Alden Press, another 70 at Windrush Frozen Foods, and 78 at the Stewart Milne timber factory.

In January, dozens of staff lost their jobs when Woolworths closed.

Former Witney mayor Arthur Titherington, 87, of Church Green, said: “One of the good things about it is the jobs, and Lidl will take some of the car shoppers out of the town. It’s not a bad idea. I think some of the jobs should go to the ex-Woolworths’ employees.”

Planning permission for the Ducklington Lane site was granted in December, and work to construct the supermarket should begin in the next few weeks.

Mr Wilson said: “The store will provide more consumer choice within the area, providing quality products at discount prices. The store will also create between 25 and 30 full- and part-time jobs within the local community.” Carol Lee, of Welch Way, said: “It is a really good thing. We lost quite a few jobs recently with the shutting of Woolworths and Adams.”

Jim Breen, of Finstock, added: “I have been looking forward to seeing something happening this year as I like Lidl, it’s an alternative to more expensive supermarkets.”

Jean Greenway, of Greenway Antiques, Corn Street, said: “On the job side, I think it is brilliant. Witney needs another supermarket.

“But I don’t think it’s in the right place.

“Where it has gone in we have quite a run of different things there, and we don’t need people with their cars bringing anymore congestion.”

Hundreds of people are expected for the opening of the 99p Stores, with managers asking for a friendly police presence to help control the crowds.

Barry Norton, West Oxfordshire District Council leader, said: “We very much welcome the creation of the new jobs, particularly at a time when many people’s jobs are at risk or have been lost already in the Witney area.

“When Lidl opens it will provide a wider choice of retail shopping.”

Lidl plans to recruit locally and train new staff at its nearest store in Watlington Road, Oxford, before the Witney store opens.