PLANS for a new Asda superstore in Kingsway have been welcomed by residents.

A public consultation was held from Thursday to Saturday to give developer Robert Hitchins Ltd feedback from the community and answer questions before a planning application for a 25,000sq ft supermarket is submitted.

If planning permission for the store is granted, the superstore will be built at the entrance to the Kingsway estate on the A38.

Janet Weston, 53, has been living in Church Drive in Quedgeley for 22 years. As she visited the public consultation on Saturday she said: "I thought it looked very good.

"I did think the shop would be bigger, but it still looks very nice. The design is really good. Obviously we have got Tesco in Quedgeley but it will be good to see something else, another option for people here."

Attendees at the committee room of the Quedgeley community centre were shown a 3D clip of the proposed supermarket which took them around the virtual store.

"It will bring plenty of jobs with it as well, some of which will hopefully go to local people which is fantastic," added Janet.

Gloucestershire-based Robert Hitchins Ltd has held exploratory talks with Gloucester City Council about the proposals, which they say would create up to 230 jobs.

The store will be about half the size of the current Tesco at St Oswald's. Some readers of The Citizen had previously said there was little call for another supermarket in the area. But Pam Smith, who lives in Uxbridge Lane in Kingsway, said she was pleased the estate would get its own store.

At the moment people in Kingsway's 1,700 homes have to go to Tesco, in Bristol Road, to reach a major supermarket.

She said: "The design of the shop looks really good, but I am quite worried about the A38. It is a busy road as it is, and it will only get busier of course if this goes ahead. But that is my only concern. The competition it will provide for Tesco will be very much welcomed, that is definitely a positive."

She added: "This is an up and coming area and I think there are 1,000 plus more houses planned so this supermarket will be serving a huge area." Representatives from Robert Hitchins and Asda were on hand to answer questions.

The store will include a cafe, 239 parking spaces, a bicycle park and recycling centre. Work could begin on the store by the autumn with an opening date of mid-2013.