Bradford's oldest Lidl store, in Girlington to close this week

The German retailer chain confirmed at the end of last month that its shop in Girlington, which sits at the junction of Ingleby Road and Duncombe Road, will shut this coming Thursday (February 29).

It brings to a close 29 years of Lidl serving this area of Bradford, with the store opening in 1995 - just after the company opened its first-ever UK stores in November 1994.

Five Lidl shops will remain in Bradford after this Thursday - Barkerend Road, Manchester Road, Bingley, Shipley, and Eccleshill.

The two stores that opened most recently were the one in Eccleshill, in July 2021, and the one in Shipley, in January 2022.

Planning permission was approved for the Lidl in Barkerend Road back in August 2006 and less than a year later the store in Manchester Road opened, in April 2007.

The Lidl in Bingley opened its doors in May 2019.

A spokesperson for Lidl said last month in relation to its Girlington store: “In the last three years alone, we have opened two brand new stores in Eccleshill and Shipley to serve and provide an enhanced shopping experience in Bradford, in addition to our existing stores on Manchester Road and Barkerend Road.

“Plans to relocate our Girlington store to a bigger site were also submitted, however these were unfortunately refused by the Council.

“Whilst the store, which is almost 30 years old, will be closing on Thursday 29th February, we hope to continue welcoming customers to one of our four Bradford stores.”

Staff are being offered opportunities at other stores, the Telegraph & Argus understands.

The T&A also understands the current store is no longer fit for purpose.

An application was submitted in August 2022 containing plans for the supermarket giant to demolish the former Tyre City building on a brownfield site, a short distance away from its store in the area – which had been vacant for almost a year at that time - and build a new shop.

A picture of the site where Lidl submitted plans for a new larger store in Ingleby Road in 2022 (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

The proposal included 104 car parking spaces, two of which would have EV charging points, and staff from the original Girlington store would have been retained, with an extra 10 jobs created.

But the application was refused by Bradford Council on April 17, 2023.

This was due to fears the new store would harm local biodiversity and “result in conditions prejudicial to pedestrian and highway safety."

It was unclear at the time what the plans for the existing store in the area would be if the application was approved.

Lidl began life in Germany just over 50 years ago – in 1973 – when it opened its first store.

The company expanded internationally when a shop was unveiled in 1989 in France, before 10 locations opened across the UK in November 1994.

Lidl now boasts more than 960 stores across GB and 14 regional distribution centres across England, Scotland and Wales.