HUNDREDS of jobs will be created by a new power station on the western shores of Southampton Water, the Daily Echo can reveal.

About 400 people will be employed on the construction of the gas-fired complex and a further 40 staff will run the facility after it opens in 2007.

Marchwood Power Ltd is planning to build the 800-megawatt plant on part of the village's industrial park off Normandy Way.

This week residents visiting the village hall have been able to view computer generated images of the proposed development, which will occupy the site of a previous power station that closed in the 1980s. The new plant will supply power to customers along the south coast, where there is currently a shortage of generating capacity. A project spokesman said: "We're proposing to develop a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant that will use the most advanced environmentally-friendly technology to deliver efficient and competitive power.

"Marchwood is highly suitable as a location for a new power plant as it has already been used for power generation. It is designated for power-plant use in the local development plan and has excellent access to existing on-site infrastructure."

Marchwood Power has published the first in a series of newsletters that aim to keep residents up to speed with the project.

It says mature trees and other landscaping will help reduce the visual impact of the plant, which will tower over neighbouring buildings. It adds that a wide range of measures will be put in place during construction to limit the impact of the work on the local community. Major equipment will be shipped to the site via Southampton Water to ease the strain on the A326 and other roads in the Marchwood area. Marchwood Power is owned by ESBI, which has operations in more than 40 countries.