Lidl is planning to open a third store in Gloucester - and this time it will be right opposite the city's main Tesco store.

The proposed store at Mercia Road, opposite St Oswald's retail park, will have a sales area of 1,325 square metres and 152 parking spaces, including eight disabled spaces and seven parent and child spaces. It is set to create 40 new full-time jobs.

Watts Truck & Van Centre would be demolished to make way for the new store.

The application to Gloucester City Council states that the proposed store would encourage further investment in the area.

The planning application also states that the proposed store won't take a huge amount of business away from either the supermarkets (due to its limited product range) or independent convenience stores, because it specialises in bulk, not top-up, shopping. But, based on an estimated turnover of £8.2m per year, it is expected to take £3.44m of business from Tesco at St Oswald's and £2.38m from Asda.

Overall, the planning application considers the impact on both city centre shopping and local shopping areas will be minimal.

Lidl currently has 670 stores nationally, including a large number in Gloucestershire. Its existing Gloucester stores are in Bristol Road (a new superstore is currently being constructed on this site, which will re-open in October) and a new store which opened on Eastern Avenue earlier this year.

The consultation into the plans is open until 24th August, with the council's deadline to make a decision on 19th October.

It's pretty obvious to us here at Punchline that Lidl are aiming for the Forest of Dean business as well as encircling the whole city. At the end of the day there is only so much money in the pot and it appears that Lidl want it all. A bit like Tesco a few years a go!

What do you think? Does Gloucester need another discount retailer? Email mark@moosemarketingandpr.co.uk

Picture: The proposed site for the new Lidl store on what is now Watts Truck Centre in Mercia Road