Drone footage shows scale of new superstore

THESE images show the scale of Wales’ new £40m shopping juggernaut.

Trago Mills, the mammoth independent retailer, has a huge following in the south west of England and is opening its first Welsh store in 2018.

Now newly released drone footage shows the scale of the department store being built in Merthyr Tydfil. It will span the equivalent size of nearly five football pitches.

Leisure facilities and a petrol station is included, making it even bigger.

The equivalent of five full Olympic swimming pools of concrete, and more than 2,500 tonnes of steel in the building – equivalent to the weight of 204 doubledecker buses – will be used to construct the store.

Walking around the pe- rimeter of the site alone would see shoppers covering a mile on foot.

The store’s steel frame, 75% of which was sourced from Port Talbot, is on schedule for completion by next Easter.

The South West independent retailer has three stores in Devon and Cornwall and sells around 180,000 products across 38 departments, including furniture, gardening, sports, toys, fishing, kitchens, bathrooms, carpets, DIY, tools, motoring, electrical, clothing and footwear.

The new store in Merthyr will also include a café, leisure facilities, a petrol station, and other planned facilities.

While the leisure attractions are currently unconfirmed, they are likely to be similar to attractions already at Trago’s Newton Abbot store. They include Go Karting, a skating zone, trampolines, Bumper Boats and bouncy castles.

The facility, which it is hoped will be a major boost for the town and local economy, is estimated to bring around 400 jobs to the area, while also creating job opportunities during construction.