Sainsbury’s plans to create up to 60 new jobs as part of a major expansion of its operations in Walsall.

The supermarket wants to extend the building and relocate its petrol station as part of a revamp of its Reedswood Retail Park site.

If the scheme gets the green light from town planners the company will extend the front and side of the property, relocate the filling station and alter the car park and access roads to improve road safety.

The work will mean an extra 30,545sq ft added to the existing store, improvements to the layout, the creation of a new mezzanine floor for a customer cafe, stairs and a lift providing access to the cafe.

The chain has refused to disclose the estimated cost of the re-development, but there will be 60 full and part time jobs created.

Sainsbury’s regional development executive Christian Wakelin said: “During public consultation we received a lot of positive feedback regarding the proposed store changes.

“The plans are now with the council and we look forward to creating jobs for local people and providing our customers with an improved all-round shopping experience.”

The store also hopes to launch a new on-line shopping service to co-incide with the revamp of the site plus landscaping work.