Supermarket giant Tesco last night confirmed work to build its new store in King's Lynn will start in the spring.

It has been a year since the Campbell's Soup tower - one of the best-known landmarks in King's Lynn - was reduced to rubble to make way for the new Tesco Extra store.

A spokesman for the company told the EDP last night Tesco was 'completely committed' to the site and looked forward to the start of the building work.

Tesco's plan for Campbell's Meadow, which also includes a farm shop, hotel, bars and car showroom, was approved by West Norfolk Council in November 2010. It is thought the �40m project could bring up to 1,000 jobs to the area.

Thousands of people from West Norfolk and beyond turned out to watch the controlled explosion of the tower on January 15.

Clenchwarton resident Sarah Griffiths, whose father was scalded to death at the soup factory, was selected to detonate the tower after winning a competition.

The demolition came after the King's Lynn civic society tried to get the tower listed in 2010 but English Heritage said the tower had no 'special architectural or historic interest' and rejected the group's application.

The tower once housed a pressure cooker used to make Campbell's condensed soup, made famous by Andy Warhol's picture in the 1960s.

It was the American company's first UK base when it opened in the 1950s. At its peak in the early 1990s, it had more than 700 workers.

The announcement by Tesco comes after rival retail giant Sainsbury's opened a huge new superstore on the opposite side of the Hardwick Road in November.

The 70,000 sq ft store is currently King's Lynn biggest supermarket and was built on land which was formerly used as part of the Pinguin frozen food depot.