A MAJOR café chain is the latest addition to a new retail park which is due to open in December.

Greggs has been added to the growing list of names queueing up to open at the St Hilary Retail Park, off Miles Gray Road in Basildon.

Construction is ongoing after former industrial buildings were flattened at the junction of Miles Gray Road and Luckyn Lane.

Other businesses confirmed to be opening include a Lidl supermarket, home improvement store Tile Mountain, and self-storage business Lok’nStore.

And there will be 157 parking spaces at the site.

Residents and shoppers are pleased with the investment and boost to the town.

Pat Rackley, from Laindon, said: “I think anything that helps bring new and more employment has to be a good thing.

“It is always good to see more investment in our borough and we are seeing retail parks like this doing really well.

“These are big companies and we do like Greggs. We have a few Lidl stores in the borough so this shows the confidence the chain has in Basildon.

“Also the stores are such good value, and with the price of living rising we need this just now.”

The former Labour councillor also said she thought the site would be a boon for people moving to the new homes which are in needed in the borough, including the new jobs.

The Echo also understands that there are plans for an unnamed coffee shop at the site, and that one 1,207 square metre unit has yet to be taken up although this has the capacity to be broken up into multiple shops.

This will be the fourth Lidl store in the area, joining supermarkets in Pitsea, Laindon and Mayflower Retail Park.

It comes as Aldi has announced a mass expansion in the county, wanting to build nine new stores in south Essex areas such as Basildon and Shoebury.

It will sit opposite the existing Pipps Hill Retail Park, which features supermarket giants Asda, and stores such as B&Q, Argos, and Burger King.

Developer Rex Land was contacted for comment.