When a Lidl becomes too much

Tesco (rightly) receives a lot of criticism for opening too many stores within a small area. Witness the recent 'Tesco Riots' in Bristol and the outcry when Tesco was allowed to build in Seaton, despite there already being seven Tesco stores within a 21 mile radius.

In East Devon, the retail giant has enjoyed a 50% success rate with recent applications to the Sidmouth-based authority: Honiton (close to Sidmouth) and Ottery (close to Sidmouth) were both rejected. As compensation, Seaton (also close to Sidmouth, but historically a seaside rival) and Axminster (virtually in Dorset, so of little interest to councillors in East Devon) both get lumbered with ridiculously oversized developments.

But little seems to have been said about the meteoric rise of Lidl. In these days of Food Mile consciousness, with much of the German discount chain's non-fresh items being trucked in from mainland Europe, their success is a little hard to fathom... whilst the fact that all of their profits leave the UK is especially frustrating.

A report in this week's Pulman's View from Axminster suggests that Lidl recently tried to buy a chunk of land from Axminster Community College. Call me naive, but I wouldn't have thought building supermarkets on school playing fields was a particularly good PR move. What next - demolishing care homes to make way for convenience stores?

When I first moved to Axminster five-or-so years' ago, there was a single local Lidl - in Chard. And a nice novelty it was too. There was also one, a little further afield, in well-to-do Sidmouth, which I always found a little bizarre. Since then, Crewkerne and Bridport have opened, with Honiton almost ready too. How many Lidl stores does an area need?

But they needn't worry about being rebuffed by education chiefs in Axminster. When the town's Tesco doubles in size I expect the Co-op will become free...