Ground has been broken on the first phase of a new one million square foot industrial and logistics development in Gloucester.

Work got underway for the first three units at St Modwen Park, adjacent to junction 12 of the M5 motorway, that will support more than 1,000 new jobs when it's fully built.

Senior construction manager for St Modwen, Richard Bailey as well as representatives from the company's principal contractor Winvic Construction took part in a ground-breaking ceremony.

The first three units are expected to be completed by December 2019 and will cover 173,413 sq ft with the potential to support approximately 230 jobs.

In addition to the first three speculative units on site, St. Modwen will deliver a rolling programme of development to reflect market conditions.

Pete Davies, Development Director at St. Modwen, said: "We are delighted that work at St. Modwen Park Gloucester is now fully underway, and the ground-breaking ceremony marks the next milestone in the successful regeneration of the site.

"Demand for high quality logistics space with excellent links to the M5 motorway is the driving force behind this building programme, which will allow us to bring significant jobs and inward investment to Gloucestershire."

National construction company, Winvic Construction Ltd is the appointed contractor for the scheme.

Ben Shearman, Operations Manager for Winvic said: "We are thrilled be working with St. Modwen again and we are looking forward to delivering the first three units at St. Modwen Park Gloucester at the end of the year.

"Winvic takes pride in its record of project delivery to industry leading standards and will ensure we deliver a first class scheme."

St. Modwen Park Gloucester is one of three St. Modwen sites in Gloucestershire alongside the £22 million Gateway 12 Business Park and £150 million mixed-use scheme at Littlecombe in Dursley.