WORK has officially started on Kendal Rugby Club's new £11m ground.

The new club will pave the way for a large Sainsbury's supermarket to open on the old ground on Shap Road.

An independent and family-owned Lancashire based construction group, Pinington, has won the contract to build the new £3.5m clubhouse, which the team will be looking to move into next summer.

The managing director of Pinington, Mark Aryton, has said that the facilities will help the club to 'develop the players of the future'.

The new supermarket is expected to be open by 2018 and will create 350 jobs.