Finally revealed - this is the big brand replacing Blundells in Longton

It was a landmark in the centre of Longton for decades.

But since Blundells hardware shop closed down at the end of October after 77 years in the village, rumours have been swirling over what would become of the red brick building, which started off life as Co-op.

This amplified when plans for the site - 155-161 Liverpool Road - were lodged with South Ribble Borough Council, including a single storey rear extension, partial demolition of a single storey side extension, and alterations to car park, access and servicing area.

Some people claimed to ‘know’ it was being turned into a branch of KFC - but this was shot down by owner Nick Thomspon, who insisted that he wanted the building to stay as retail, but said it “wasn’t fit for purpose” in its current state.

This week, locals claimed to have seen men in hi-vis jackets bearing a well-known supermarket logo, stood in the car park.

Now the Post can exclusively reveal that the building will reopen as a Tesco Express later in the year.

What do Tesco say?

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We’re planning to open a new Tesco Express store in Longton later this year. We look forward to welcoming customers to the store and will keep the local community updated with our plans as we get closer to opening.”

Earlier this week, the shop was still an empty shell, with no signs of any refit having taken place.

Planned changes

The upgrade plans were passed by South Ribble Borough Council on April 20. They consist of a single-storey extension to the rear of the existing retail unit to provide storage and staff welfare facilities to allow the sales area to be extended into the existing stockroom and staff areas.

Mr Thompson also wants to make alterations to the eastern side of the building, including the removal of the existing storeroom and office to improve the car park and external servicing areas.

The external storage area will be reduced and altered to allow the car park to be enlarged and allow offstreet deliveries. The car park currently provides 11 parking spaces and delivery vehicles including large lorries currently offload goods at the roadside on a bend in the road.

The improvements to the parking area will provide 15 customer and staff parking spaces, two spaces for the residential flats above the shop and will allow commercial delivery vehicles to enter and manoeuvre within the site and unload within the curtilage of the premises.

The materials used for the extension will tie in with the existing building, including the use of blue slate, and off-white rendered brickwork, with sandstone copings. Windows and doors are to be painted in anthracite grey.