B&M has announced it is to open a new store and garden centre at Crossflatts – creating more than 45 jobs.

The company will open up in the former Homebase site on the Ashfield Retail Park, Aire Valley Road, in what it describes as a welcome boost to the local economy.

The discount retailer is due to open its doors for the first time at 9am on Wednesday, March 13.

Customers can expect to find a wide variety of branded products including toys, food and drink, a pet range, health and beauty and homewares.

The store will also feature an extensive DIY, decorating and furniture range.

And it will boast its own garden centre.

A B&M spokesman said: “We’re feeling really positive about the creation of more jobs for local people and we hope customers are going to be delighted with their new store.

“We are all really excited to get the doors open and welcome our new customers through the door in a few weeks.”

The company is currently advertising for staff.

It has also applied for planning permission for two replacement signs to cover the existing signs, eight sets of digitally-printed garden centre window vinyls fitted to external glass face and one digitally-printed panel fixed to the existing fencing wall.

The discount retailer has been expanding its network in recent months with three other stores opening in Bradford.

B&M recently reported that a tough November hit sales over its Christmas quarter, but said trading bounced back in the crucial final month. The chain reported a 1.6 per cent fall in UK like-for-like revenues over the 13 weeks to December 29 after a “difficult” November. This compared with a 3.9 per cent sales surge seen a year earlier and left year-to-date comparable UK sales 0.7 per cent lower.

However, B&M said UK comparable sales lifted 1.2 per cent in December, with the improved trading continuing into this month.