WORK on Bodmin's new Lidl store is scheduled to start next month, the company confirmed this week.

Contractors have already demolished the former police station off Priory Road to make way for the supermarket with further preparation work ongoing.

Lidl says the store will be larger than its premises in Wadebridge with car parking for 70 vehicles.

Eyebrows were raised last week when it was revealed the company had gained planning consent for the building without the application being discussed at a Cornwall Council planning meeting.

The plans were instead delegated to a planning officer to decide on their merits.

Many councillors, including the ward member for the area Cllr Lance Kennedy, were unaware Lidl had been granted permission, after there had been earlier concerns over access problems at the junction of Priory Road.

But development executive for the store, James Mitchell reaffirmed this week that consent had been given back in September.

His company was very much looking forward to opening in Bodmin. "Since we gained planning permission, the police have moved out, which has enabled us to commence demolition which is currently ongoing.

Majority

"Access for the main contractor will be in April, which will facilitate a pre-Christmas opening,'' said Mr Mitchell.

He said Lidl would expect to employ 30 full and part-time staff, the vast majority recruited from the local area.

"The store will be some 15% larger than Lidl in Wadebridge, and we are looking forward to providing the new store in Bodmin as soon as possible,'' added Mr Mitchell.

The local chamber of commerce had supported Lidl's bid to build a store just off the town centre.

Lidl believes its new store will help local trade by keeping shoppers within the town.

Explaining why the development had bypassed a formal planning committee, a spokeswoman for Cornwall Council stated a planning scheme now in place no longer requires all major applications to be determined by a committee of councillors, and instead can be approved or refused by a senior planning officer.

The land fee paid to the police authority by Lidl offset the cost of the new £8 million police headquarters further along Priory Road.

Lidl had been talking to the police for four years about acquiring the site.

When built, the store will be Bodmin's fourth major supermarket.