A TOTAL of 150 jobs look set to be saved under a deal that would see the takeover of a giant retail park property in Kidderminster.

News that the Homebase megastore lease at Crossley Park is likely to be sold as a going concern emerged just two weeks before the deadline for the store's closure.

A Homebase spokesman said Kingfisher plc, the group that owns the giant B and Q rival DIY concern, was expected to buy up the 25-year lease on the site as one of five Homebase megastores put on sale this year.

The 150 staff from the Crossley Park store would be transferred to the new leaseolders under the deal said to be at "an advanced stage of completion".

A question mark has been hanging over the future of the showpiece store, the biggest DIY outlet in the Midlands, since January when venture capitalists Schroder Ventures bought the Homebase DIY business from Sainsbury plc.

The possibility of another big "dead frontage" at Crossley Park -- in addition to the closed World of Leather Store - has been viewed with concern within Wyre Forest District Council which is hoping Kidderminster can make its mark as a prime retail attraction in the West Midlands.

The near completion of the deal with Schroder Ventures was confirmed to the Shuttle/Times and News yesterday by a spokesman for Kingfisher plc headquarters in London.

He was unable to give details of the future of the Homebase megastore, however, and whether it would be occupied by B and Q.

But the move raises questions about B and Q's multi-million pound store already under construction on a 100,000 sq ft site on the other side of town at Green Street.

The site vacated by Victoria Carpets has been earmarked as a DIY and garden centre with a bulk storage compound.

B and Q were unavailable for comment as the Shuttle/Times and News went to press last night.