The opening date for a huge two-storey supermarket in an empty Argos unit has been announced.

The Food Warehouse is to open on Ashford Retail Park in Sevington on Tuesday, April 16 after work started on converting the unit earlier this month.

Creating 40 jobs, the shop will be the sixth Food Warehouse in Kent – a brand launched by frozen-food chain Iceland in 2014.

Its stores are larger than the discounter’s core outlets and stock a wider range of frozen goods.

A banner has been put up on the side of the building reading “The Food Warehouse, coming soon”.

The store, which is due to feature a mezzanine floor, will open from 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday.

On Sundays, it will open between 10.30am and 4.30pm.

Iceland currently has a store in Ashford high street and a freezer section inside The Range – the former John Lewis – in Fougeres Way.

A spokesman said: “We can confirm that a new Food Warehouse store will be opening on Tuesday, April 16 at Ashford Retail Park in Sevington.

“The current Ashford high street Iceland store will not be affected by the opening.

"The new store will bring exciting new job opportunities to the local community.”

Contractors started working on the site after plans to install a new shopfront were approved by Ashford Borough Council (ABC) earlier this month.

ABC received one letter of objection after a resident raised concerns over a lack of parking and noise pollution.

A separate application concerning the installation of an air conditioning/refrigeration plant is yet to be approved.

In a comment submitted to ABC, Sevington with Finberry Parish Council says it is concerned about the noise the compound will create.

"The noise level reported will be 32 decibels but at night this will appear much louder," it said.

"The parish council also has concerns about parking; the current infrastructure cannot cope with existing tenants when busy and this puts pressure on local residents.

"A supermarket is only going to exacerbate the problems."

Iceland says 10 full-time jobs and 30 part-time positions will be created when the new store opens.

Argos left the retail park in August 2022 as part of the company's plans to reduce the number of standalone shops it has across the UK.

It now has a unit inside Bybrook Sainsbury’s on Warren Retail Park.