An Antrim-based construction firm has been appointed by a supermarket giant to build a new 130,000 sq ft supermarket in Salford.

Ballymena builder, Patton Construction, has been sought out by Tesco to tackle the task of building a £45m Tesco superstore opposite Salford City Shopping Centre.

Work on the store is expected to get underway in the first quarter of 2012.

The contractor, which also operates from a base in Milton Keynes, recently built Tesco’s first green store in Ireland, picking up a Tesco Blue Award - its top building accolade for delivering the 26-week contract six weeks early.

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Patton also completed its first English design and build timber frame environmental Tesco store in Berwick-upon-Tweed last year, worth around £5m.

It is understood that the next project will work along the same 'environmentally friendly' template- called the Tesco Environmental Store Format.

The 24-hour superstore will be built above extensive underground parking boasting the first LED lighting at any store in the UK.

It will be built using a glulam timber frame with a total building performance target of BREEAM very good.

Roof lights will allow more natural daylight into the store and a combined heat and power plant will generate electricity and make use of the waste heat.

Meanwhile in a bid to reduce the store’s carbon footprint by up to a third the plant runs on naturally produced fuel from sustainable sources such as recycled vegetable oil.

(LB)