Next will open its new home store in Telford on April 14, creating more than 40 jobs, bosses today revealed.

The new Next Home store at Bridge Retail Park will be the first of the company’s stores in the county that will only sell furnishings.

Next said it was delighted the store would soon be opening and that 40, rather than the original estimate of 30, jobs would be created.

A spokeswoman for the company said: “It is our first Next Home store in the area so it is great news for us as a company. It will be a two-storey shop with just under 12,000 sq ft of floor space.

“The downstairs section will focus on what shoppers would have downstairs in their homes, with full-size living rooms and kitchens plus an accessories section.

“Upstairs we’ll exhibit bathroom and bedroom items, again in the form of fully made-up rooms for shoppers to browse. People have not really been able to view our home stock first hand in Shropshire in the past, instead having to look at brochures or online.”

Next currently has two stores in Telford at the Forge Retail Park and in Sherwood Street.

Meanwhile, low-cost sup- ermarket Aldi has said it will open its third store in Telford on the same day.

The Holyhead Road store, near Oakengates, is part of a £12 million complex which earlier this year saw a new Wickes DIY store opening.