A LIDL store in Bradford is to close after almost 30 years.
The German retailer chain confirmed that its shop in Girlington, which sits at the junction of Ingleby Road and Duncombe Road, will shut at the end of next month.
Staff are being offered opportunities at other stores, the Telegraph & Argus understands.
Lidl has five other shops in Bradford, with two opening in July 2021 and January 2022 respectively.
A spokesperson for the company said: “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.”
The current store is no longer fit for purpose and Lidl was hunting for a site in Girlington that was larger and more modern, the T&A understands.
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.
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 the first-ever UK Lidl stores opened in November 1994, with 10 locations spread across the country initially.
The Girlington store opened in 1995.
Lidl now boasts more than 960 stores across GB and 14 regional distribution centres across England, Scotland and Wales.
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