Building work on west Oxfordshire's first retail park is scheduled to get under way early in the new year and is set to create more than 200 jobs.

The park is to be built alongside the Carterton Road and Upavon Way, close to the main entrance to RAF Brize Norton and the A40 link road.

The first phase will include retail units and warehouses ranging from 3,000sq ft to more than 32,000sq ft.

The park is expected to provide a range of stores, including DIY, furniture, homewares and electrical goods outlets.

A new pub will be built off the Upavon link road.

Surveyor Paul Chaston, of agents Marriotts, said: "Over five years the development will generate at least a couple of hundred jobs.

"Phase one, which starts in the new year, will produce between 80 and 90 jobs."

The site already contains some buildings, including nine industrial units, a Nissan dealership and an Esso filling station.

Developer James Cover, of the Cover Construction Company, based in Filkins, bought the land in the mid 1980s but shelved plans to build there following a downturn in the market in the late 1980s.

Planning consent for the new park included a series of restrictions designed to prevent the development harming businesses already trading in the town centre.

Mr Chaston said: "Large bulky items such as white goods, carpets and furniture are allowed but not smaller items that may be bought in the town."