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

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

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

And work has 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 said the number of calls to the bureau had risen by 200 per cent this year.

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 can be only good news 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 redundancy.”

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, followed shortly by Adams, in The Woolgate.

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. I think it’s not a bad idea.”

He added: “I think some of the jobs should go to the ex-Woolworths’ employees.”

Planning permission for the Ducklington Lane site was granted in December.

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 to 30 full and part-time jobs.”

Jim Breen, who lives in Finstock, said: “I like Lidl, it’s an alternative to more expensive supermarkets.”

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 store in Watlington Road, Oxford.

witney@oxfordmail.co.uk