A NEW supermarket has been given the go-ahead in Blackburn.

Members of Blackburn with Darwen's planning and highways committee had deferred approval on a new Lidl supermarket, off Whalley Banks, after concerns about the impact it would have on traffic.

Residents were divided over the project, a report to the committee said, with petitions both for and against.

In December councillors expressed concern that leaving the Lidl store could become difficult if no adaptations were made to Whalley Banks.

So the developer has agreed to install a mini-roundabout to ensure smooth flow of traffic along the road, which feeds into Preston Old Road.

The go-ahead ends Lidl's two-year hunt for a base in Blackburn.

It was given permission to build on the site of the old Millennium nightclub near Morrisons but was told that it would have to pay for major highways improvements.