A national retailer has opened early in a brand-new retail park in Fullbridge.

Sports Direct will be the second store to open at the long-awaited Blackwater Retail Park as the rest of its retailers prepare for their officially opening.

The new store will be joined by Home Bargains, set to open on Saturday November 17, Next on Tuesday November 20 and Aldi, which will follow on Thursday November 22.

Costa Coffee opened its doors on Thursday October 11.

John Parling from Aquila Holdings, who are overseeing the retail park’s development was very happy with the new store which has opened more than a week ahead of schedule.

He said: “I was assuming Sports Direct were going to open later but it seems the contractors finished the works early.

“This represents a milestone for the development, now we need to ensure the tenants are happy and they have people fully engaged.

“The shop fit is great.”

Planning permission for Blackwater Retail Park was granted by Maldon District Council in 2016.

Work begun on the site in October 2017.

The last beam of construction was laid on the site in March.

Some feared previously the park would not open until early next year, but now it seems the development is running ahead of schedule.

Aquila invested a total of £20million into the new site, which is creating 200 new jobs to Maldon district.

As well as the park, a 60-bed Travelodge hotel was also given the green light in August.

Construction is set to begin on the hotel in the same area this month, with its opening expected in September 2019. A further ten full time jobs are expected to be brought to the area.

The hotel will also include a ground floor café, however, the company which will take up the unit has not yet been revealed.

Mr Parling added the success of Costa Coffee since its opening last month “bodes well” for the rest of the project.

He said: “Costa has been open for several weeks now and they are doing amazingly well.

“The manager is very busy and it is in a stunning location which is very prominent.

“The park is still partially a construction site because the shop fittings are not all quite complete but there is an enormous people who are very excited to see them when they are finished.”

The Maldon and Burnham Standard has contacted Sports Direct following the opening of the store.