Works begin this week on the £135m extension to Fosse shopping park in Leicester, where contractors are clearing the way for development of the adjacent Castle Acres site.

The demolition of the former Everards Brewery, will prepare the ground for the new Fosse extension, creating space for 9 additional shops and 6 more food outlets.

The Crown Estate announced it was purchasing Castle Acres through the Fosse Partnership in October 2017, with retailers including Next, Debenhams, TK Maxx and Clarks already signed up to take space in the new development.

The extension, due to be completed in 2020, will further enhance what is already one of the UK’s most successful shopping parks, attracting 10 million visitors a year.

In the last year, the Fosse Partnership has invested £12.7m in the existing scheme to enhance the retail offer and experience for retailers and their customers, with five new retailers – Office, Pandora, Primark, Superdrug and JD Sports – joining the impressive line-up.

Michael Bell, Senior Asset Manager at The Crown Estate, said: “This is the beginning of a really exciting journey for Fosse. The development of Castle Acres will create a fantastic new retail offer for our customers and further enhance Fosse’s position as one of the UK’s best loved retail destinations. We are delighted to get started on site, and look forward to working closely with our local partners as the scheme progresses.”