Shropshire Star

Work gets underway on Lidl at Shrewsbury Town's ground

Work has started on budget supermarket Lidl's second Shrewsbury store which is set to open early next year.

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Shrewsbury Town's stadium

Contractors working for the German retailer moved on to the Oteley Road site earlier this week and have been clearing and levelling the land.

The firm, which already has an outlet on Whitchurch Road, is building its new store at the front of Shrewsbury Town Football Club.

The football club had struggled to get planning permission because it involves building on land earmarked for community use, but it was successful on its third attempt after offering up one of its training pitches as a replacement.

And it promised money to pay for sports provision in the county.

The new store is set to open early spring with a guaranteed creation of up to 40 new jobs.

Permission for the store was secured in April.

Lidl UK’s regional head of property, Stuart Jardine, said: “There’s been much anticipation for this new Lidl store and it’s great that we are now in a position to break the ground and start the build. We are extremely grateful for all the support that we have received so far, and would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding whilst we enter this next phase of the development.”

The new store in Shrewsbury will add to Lidl UK’s existing store portfolio of 670, and will form part of the company’s growth plans which hope to see this increase to 1,500 store in the future.

The retailer had been locked in a planning wrangle with supermarket giant Waitrose over the Oteley Road site.

The high end retailer had been granted planning permission in 2012 for its 30,000 sq ft store on land next to Percy Thrower's Wyevale Garden Centre.

But when news broke of Lidl's intended new store, Waitrose bosses said they were reviewing its plans and looking at options for opening in Oteley Road area of the town.

Waitrose had said in 2014 that its store would create up to 200 jobs.

The firm had been vocal during the planning process for Lidl, writing to Shropshire Council and asking it to reject the company's plans.

The work to transform the site is expected to take eight months and be completed by the end of February 2018.

Oteley Road is the site of considerable development plans, which include Shrewsbury Southern Sustainable Urban Extension.

The development will be made up of around 550 homes, 35 acres of commercial space, and will feature a community centre, a care home, a doctors surgery and a pub.