WORCESTER'S £75 million St Martin's Quarter shopping centre has been handed another boost - after a new retailer agreed to sign up.

Sports Direct has agreed to take up the largest empty available section of the City Walls Road site and will occupy 18,000 square foot of floor space, employing 48 people.

The deal with the bargain sports store is a huge boost for owners of the quarter, who have struggled to fill the site since it opened in 2012.

Sports Direct has agreed to take three separate units in a huge deal, fitting them out into one store, making it significantly bigger than its current Worcester outlet inside the CrownGate Shopping Centre.

But mystery surrounds the future of its current city shop, with the store today refusing to confirm whether it would close the Crowngate facility or operate from two locations.

It comes as developers Carillion Richardson insisted they were "working towards full occupancy" for St Martin's Quarter and revealed there is ongoing interest.

Two other empty units on the site have attracted interest from shops, with announcements on both imminent.

Selwyn Rowley, from Carillion Richardson, said: "Sports Direct, which is the UK’s leading sports retailer provides an unrivalled range of products offering exceptional quality and unbeatable value.

"It will complement perfectly the excellent value provided by the popular mix of retailers within St Martin's Quarter."

The sports firm will start fitting out the units immediately and it will open in mid-May, although it has refused to confirm its plans for the existing city store.

A Sports Direct spokesman said: "As our company continues to grow throughout the UK, our ethos has never changed in that we offer something for all.

"Our customers get the biggest brands in all types of sportswear, footwear and sports equipment as well as fashion brands at our famously low prices."

The boost for St Martin's Quarter comes one week after planning permission was secured to demolish The Bedroom Centre, facing onto City Walls Road, for a new 13,000 square foot red brick and glass building, as these images show.

It will host four new businesses - two shops and two restaurants - although the bedroom store is staying open for the foreseeable future.

Sports Direct will take up another, older section of the site which has been empty since 2012 and also faces onto the busy City Walls Road.

Councillor Jabba Riaz, who represents the area for Worcester City Council, said: "It's great news for St Martin's Quarter to get a 'High Street' brand in, it will create employment and it's probably triple their current store size.

"The concentration of the quarter's existing shops will suit their target market more, so it's a shrewd, possibly good move.

"But I am worried about the area by Chapel Walk becoming increasingly deserted, the threat of Worcester Woods (a retail park proposed for land off Newtown Road anchored by John Lewis) and High Street picture is something we've all got to take into account."

Fit4Free, a 99p Store, Ladbrokes, Avant Garde, Costa and B&M are currently on St Martin's Quarter alongside Asda.