DOUBT has been cast over a new Hampshire supermarket after concerns were raised about delays to construction.

Morrisons confirmed it will build a new 60,000 sq ft store employing more than 200 people at Crest Nicholson’s Centenary Quay development in Woolston and originally said the store would open in November.

The supermarket pulled out of plans to construct a store on East Street earlier this year and despite committing to building the shop at Centenary Quay the firm last night refused to deny that its opening date has been pushed back to April 2016.

Warwick Payne, Southampton City Councillor for Woolston, told the Daily Echo he would be disappointed if the new store was delayed.

He said: “It’s almost complete and it will be in a position to move in and start making it to its requirements. The latest information I have is that it will take until April 2016.

“Obviously it would have been better if it had opened in 2015 but the important thing is that Woolston will be getting at least one supermarket in 2016.”

As previously reported, German supermarket giant Lidl plans to open a new outlet on the site of the former Co-op on Obelisk Road, Woolston, in 2017.

Crest Nicholson launched the current stage of the housing development in 2013 with the promise of hundreds of jobs after striking a deal with the Homes and Communities Agency.

In total the project, based on the former Vosper Thornycroft shipyard, was due to cost ÂŁ500million, and hundreds of homes have been built on the site.

The Daily Echo contacted both Crest Nicholson and Morrisons and asked for clarification as to when the supermarket would open.

Daily Echo:

Susan Young, from Crest Nicholson, said: “Morrisons is still on track to open a brand new supermarket at our new development in Southampton, Centenary Quay.

“The new supermarket will be at the heart of the retail and leisure facilities planned for residents and the wider community at our Centenary Quay development.”

When pushed, a Crest Nicholson spokeswoman said the store would be open in the “very near future” but would not specify a date.

A Morrisons spokeswoman said she had “no further information” about the site.