And shoppers will find it easier than ever before to find a parking space close to the town centre, as the new Asda will have 650 spaces, and the retail park proposed for the existing Asda site will have an additional 500 parking bays.

Work has started on the new superstore and it is anticipated it will open late January 2005. At 53,000 square feet, it will be about one and a half times larger than the existing Asda, making it bigger than the company's Wrexham store which opened three years ago, but smaller than the Deeside megastore.

Les Moore, who will manage the new store, says it will be bigger and better in every way than the existing Asda, which will continue to trade until its replacement is finished.

"Every department in the store is going to be larger than at present. The aisles will be wider to make shopping easier, and we will have new departments, including an optician, photo shop, and jewellery. George clothing is going to be much bigger and will be sited near the door, and the household and leisure department will be three times bigger than it is now," he explained.

Around 100 new staff will be recruited later in the year, and will be trained before the store opens.

"I'm very excited about it. It is a sign of the company's confidence in Llandudno that they are making an investment of this size in the town," he said.

Once Asda has moved to the old Ysgol John Bright site on the opposite side of Conwy Road, it is expected that work will begin on re-developing its existing site as a 10 unit retail park, and it appears there has already been considerable interest from national companies, even though Asda Wal-Mart has stipulated there should be no food stores on the park.

Plans for the retail park have been submitted to Conwy County Council by developers Taylor Woodrow and should be discussed soon.

The two new developments will mean a major reorganisation of the road system in and around Conway Road to ensure traffic flows smoothly to and from the town centre.

The roundabout close to the Links Hotel will be reduced in size to allow two lanes of traffic to travel around it, and there will be a new system of traffic lights at the junction of Tudor Crescent with Conwy Road to regulate entry and exit from the car parks on either side of Conway Road.