WORK has started on a new Lidl supermarket in Bingley, after planning permission was granted in February.

The new store will be in Main Street, on the former Bradford & Bingley building society site.

It will create up to 40 new jobs when it opens its doors.

The budget supermarket is working with local firm Stainforth Construction and the build is expected to take nine months, with a view to opening the store early next year.

Jamie Illingworth, Bingley Chamber of Trade and Commerce president, said he was delighted work had started.

“I am really pleased that following our meeting with Lidl they promised that after planning permission was granted they would start work straight away – and they have honoured that promise.

“I am also delighted they are using a local construction company to carry out the work.

“The store is one of the final pieces of the economic jigsaw in the town centre which will create jobs. I very much look forward to seeing it completed.”

Shipley MP Philip Davies said the supermarket would provide a much-needed increase in the town centre’s footfall.

Lidl UK’s regional head of property, Graham Burr, 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 multi-million investment will boast state-of-the-art facilities including an in-store bakery and customer toilets.

The plans include a total of 116 parking spaces, comprising 101 standard bays, seven disabled spaces and eight parent and toddler bays.

A substation on the two-acre site will be retained as part of the proposal, which includes pedestrian access from Thrift Way.

The boarded-up site had previously been described as an eyesore.

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Sainsbury’s bought the site in 2010 and won planning permission to demolish the building and construct a new store in 2011.

But in April 2015, as demolition was going ahead, the chain put the site on the market.

Lidl subsequently bought the site and in July last year applied for planning permission.

The new store will add to Lidl UK’s store portfolio of 700 and will form part of the company’s growth plans which aim to see it open up to 50 stores a year.

Lidl UK has experienced continued growth, with the latest results from consumer panel researchers Kantar Worldpanel highlighting a 16.3 per cent increase in UK sales year-on-year and a market share of 5.1 per cent.

The former Bradford & Bingley headquarters were built in 1975, in the brutalist style, with a ziggurat design inspired by the nearby Five Rise Locks.