Issa brothers' firm in bid to overturn M&S planning refusal

M&S has been in Blackburn town centre in King William Street since the 1980s

A property firm owned by Blackburn's so-called "billionaire brothers" is bidding to overturn a planning refusal.

Marks & Spencer want to move its Blackburn branch to a new state-of-the-art base at Frontier Park retail hub.

Hyndburn Council's planning committee has been advised by officers to refuse the application for the new £10m store when it meets in a few days.

But the brothers' company Monte Blackburn Ltd said it would seek to overturn it.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said M&S announced in November it was planning on vacating its current site in King William Street, Blackburn.

It was proposing to move into a purpose-built larger store which would feature a new food hall on Frontier Park.

M&S had warned it would likely quit the town if the move was not given the green light.

The council's planning officers' report urged refusal on the grounds there were better alternative sites for the development in the area.

A statement from Monte Blackburn Ltd said: "We will continue to strive to secure the necessary approvals for the project with our partners to demonstrate that the benefits of our proposals outweigh the sole technical drawback."

An M&S spokesman said: "With shopping habits changing, we need to have the right stores, in the right place, with the right space.

"The new fresh market food hall - double the size of the existing food hall in Blackburn - would offer customers a much wider range of delicious, great quality M&S Food at trusted value,

"However should the application be refused by Hyndburn councillors, then it is likely that M&S will leave Blackburn."