A HUGE digger has been reducing two shops to rubble over the last week to make way for a new supermarket.

Two units in Frinton's leafy Connaught Avenue have been levelled to make way for a Sainsbury’s Local store.

Contractors have been on site since January 14. They set up scaffolding and hoarding around the area to keep shoppers away from the building site on the street side.

A 13-ton digger was brought on to the site to break up the main structure, allowing workmen to clear away the rubble.

Demolition work was completed yesterday, allowing construction work to start.

Phil Stubbins, site manager for Phelan Construction, said: “We have taken them right down to the ground and cleared it right off.

“Now the old buildings have gone we will start again with a completely new build, starting with a steel frame structure.”

The demolished stores were 70-76 Connaught Avenue – three stores which all stood empty.

Sainsbury’s will replace Barry Moule Carpet Shop, which has become a mobile service, Johnson’s Cycles, which moved to a new Connaught Avenue store last year, and a former greengrocer unit which has been vacant for a long time.

Construction of the 3,000 square foot Sainsbury’s Local is on track to be completed in about five months and bosses hope to open its doors for the first time in the summer.