Lidl’s purchase of an Esso site in Balderton, Nottinghamshire does not signal its entry into the UK forecourt market. A spokesperson for the discounter confirmed the intention was to demolish the filling station to make way for a supermarket.

Last year Lidl demolished a Co-op Food Store on an adjoining site in Balderton and this land, together with the Esso site land, will be used to build a 2,470sq m store instead of the 2,004sq m shop it had originally proposed.
According to the Newark Advertiser, Lidl said it hoped to begin work in July, with a view to opening the store early next year.