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'Don't let Tesco close our pub'
REGULARS at a Layton pub threatened with closure by supermarket giant Tesco today told how plans would "rip the heart out of the community".
The Windmill Pub on Westcliff Drive could be bulldozed to make way for a brand new superstore if a planning application is approved.
Tesco's original application to build a 1,363 sq metre store on the site were refused by Blackpool Council last November.
But now the company has lodged an appeal against the decision meaning it will be re-examined by an independent planning inspector and could be overthrown.
The news has come as a blow to the pub's regular customers who described the Windmill as the hub of the community.
Bob Benson, 57, from Sherwood Avenue, said: "I've drunk in this pub for decades and it is the centre of the local community and where people in Layton have always met.
"Closing it would be like ripping the very heart of the community out.
"There are dozens of supermarkets in this area – we don't need a Tesco here and we don't want one."
Planning oficers recommended the application be turned down as it would be damaging to nearby shops and go against policies aimed at protecting district shopping centres.
But Tesco defended the proposals describing the build as a modest supermarket which would offer new services and provide more than 100 jobs.
FOR THE FULL STORY SEE FRIDAY'S GAZETTE.
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Weather for Blackpool
Sunday 12 February 2012
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