Building on busy road in Northampton DEMOLISHED to make way for multi-million pound supermarket

A former office block on a busy road in Northampton has been DEMOLISHED to make way for a brand new multi-million pound supermarket.

Mayleigh House in Kettering Road North has been reduced to rubble and dust to make way for a new Lidl supermarket.

A Lidl spokeswoman said although demolition work has started, the company is unable to confirm an exact timescale for the development at the moment.

In September, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) gave the go ahead for the building, formerly owned and operated by Autohome Assistance, to be demolished and replaced with a Lidl supermarket and an adjoining 126-space car park.

The planning application was first submitted in November 2020 and received 195 objections, mainly raising concerns with the likely traffic increase in the area.

Conservative councillor Mike Hallam, of the Parklands ward, is one of the 195 objectors, who says he has “concerns about the increased level of traffic this will bring to an already extremely busy section of the Kettering Road”.

However WNC said in planning papers “that the proposal is considered to be acceptable on highway safety grounds”.

The supermarket's recommended opening hours are: Monday – Saturday from 8:00 am to 10pm; Sunday from 10am to 4pm; and public/Bank Holidays from 8am to 10pm.

It will become the fifth Lidl in Northampton, joining the current stores in Weston Favell, Sixfields, Far Cotton and Duston.

The Lidl in Lodge Way, Duston opened just before Christmas. Work started on the site in March 2022, which saw the former Harvey's warehouse building demolished.