Vote with your feet to save your local shops

Work has started on a controversial Co-op store in Lutterworth which is going ahead despite objections from many residents

A spokesman for the Co-op said the store, in Linden Drive, was scheduled to open by the middle of next month.

People living nearby have said the new store – on the site of the former Sir Frank Whittle pub – will bring increased traffic to the area, and kill off two small retail businesses.

But local district councillor Geraldine Robinson said: “In the end, local people can decide which shops stay, by using the shop they prefer, and voting with their feet.”

A year ago, residents and local shopkeepers launched a campaign to keep the neighbourhood pub, and repel the Co-op.

But pub owners Marston Breweries sold the site to the Co-op anyway.

And Cllr Robinson explained: “Some of the residents are up in arms about this Co-op plan.

“But the truth is because the Marston’s pub was already a retail site, the Co-op don’t need planning permission for their store.

“All we can look at, as a council, is the proposed frontage and the cash machine.

“I want to help residents wherever I can, but I’m not going to make false promises, and there’s really nothing we can do here.”

But many Lutterworth people are still unhappy about the situation.

Town resident Colin Satchell said: “I’m still against this – they spoiled a good pub doing good business at the time, and a lot of people and friends have lost contact and gone their separate ways.”

He said there was not room for two Co-ops in Lutterworth, and all the new store would do was “take the business of the local shopkeepers who have been there for years”.

Linden Food Stores owner Madhukar Patel, known locally as Jim, said: “I can’t understand why the Co-op wants to come to a residential area.

“Yes, I am worried about my business, to be honest.

“But we’ve been here 28 years, and hopefully the local people who have supported us throughout the years will carry on supporting us.”

Wyn Lloyd Jones, of Linden News Ltd, said: “I’ve had sleepless nights about this Co-op plan, most definitely.

“It’s my livelihood. If the shop goes, then it’s everything I’ve worked for over the years.”

The Co-op plans to transform the former pub into a 3,000 square foot shop, with a cashpoint.

The final details of its plan – the shop’s signage and the cashpoint – were submitted to Harborough District Council planners this month.