Lidl contractors 'inadvertently' cut down woodland

Lidl has apologised to Telford and Wrekin Council

Contractors working for Lidl "inadvertently" chopped down woodland as a site was being cleared for a new store in Telford.

Now the supermarket giant is looking to make amends with a legal agreement and has offered to pay an extra £13,020 after the incident.

Lidl has apologised for the error at the site, near the Old Park Roundabout at The Rock, and said it is in direct talks with Telford and Wrekin Council.

Store bosses said it remained on track to open in time for Christmas.

"During the initial site clearance for the approved scheme, contractors inadvertently removed a portion of the woodland area to the west of the approved store location that was originally designated for retention," said planning agent Daniel Williams, from Leeds-based WSP.

"It should be highlighted that Lidl is proactively undertaking measures at its own expense to regularise the situation and address these issues."

Council planners were told Lidl had proposed a revised landscaping strategy and biodiversity net gain approach, which would be funded by a separate legal agreement.

Planning application documents said the applicant had developed a "robust and viable revised approach to landscaping and biodiversity net gain, ensuring meaningful ecological mitigation and enhancement".

A spokesperson for Lidl said: "We were very sorry to learn of this and raised this immediately with Telford & Wrekin Council.

"We'd like to assure the community that we are in direct conversations with the council and are working to agree on terms to remedy this."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.