Bosses at Asda have confirmed today that work on its new south Norwich superstore will start early in the new year.

The company's plans for a new 5,796 sq m store at Harford Place, off Hall Road in Tuckswood, were controversially agreed on December 6 last year.

Asda bosses said then that they planned to start work in 2013. But earlier this month, with work yet to begin, fears were growing that the project had been postponed.

However, bosses subsequently insisted that a new Norwich superstore would be built, and a licensing application has now been lodged with Norwich City Council.

Lisa Rooke, Asda senior property communications manager, said: 'We remain committed to delivering a new store in south Norwich and have recently submitted a licensing application for the store, which marks the next stage in the process. We plan to start work on site early next year.'

The granting of planning permission for the superstore, at the former Bally Shoe factory site, proved to be highly controversial.

In September last year, a proposal for the store was rejected by members of the city council's planning committee, by five votes to four.

Following that decision, in a poll organised by the Norwich Evening News, nearly four in five people said councillors had got one of the city's biggest planning decisions for years wrong.

Almost 1,000 readers had their say in just four days, with 79pc saying that proposals for the development should have been given the go-ahead. Less than three months after the proposal was rejected, identical plans were lodged with the council and the planning committee voted by seven to five to approve the plans, which also include a gym, pub, community centre, 334-space car park and other shops.

Developers said the scheme would create 300 jobs in the superstore and about 100 elsewhere on the site.

Is work about to start at a site near you in Norwich? Call reporter David Bale on 01603 772427 or email david.bale2@archant.co.uk