STORE Wars are coming to Leyland after bosses at one supermarket declared their determination to remain the town's most popular shop.

Leyland is currently home to two Kwik Save stores, one on Hough Lane and one on Towngate.

The Towngate store will close its doors on August 7 to make way for the new Tesco supermarket, which makes up the first phase of the redevelopment of Southern Towngate.

But although the revamp has meant Kwik Save has lost one of its stores, they say they are determined to give shoppers what they want - and are planning to give their other store a massive face-lift.

A spokesman for Somerfield, the firm which owns Kwik Save, said: "We are planning to refit the other Kwik Save store.

"We don't as yet know how many jobs this will create.

"We have found vacancies in our other stores locally for the staff at the Towngate store and are still working with other employers to find jobs for the remainder of the staff."

The closing of Kwik Save next month will mark the end of an era in Leyland, and, councillors hope, the start of an exciting future for the town.

In its place will be a huge, state-of-the-art Tesco supermarket which is expected to create 250 jobs. Plans are also in the pipeline to rid the town centre of its grotty strip of wasteland on Southern Towngate, replacing it with a new leisure facility, including a cinema, and bowling alley.

But it also means the market will be on the move once more. Traders had thought they would be relocated on temporary basis while the building work - expected to last 18 months - was carried out. But they have now been told they will probably not return as there isn't room. A public meeting will be held tomorrow (Friday, July 16) at the Civic Centre, Leyland, from 7pm. chaired by David Borrow MP.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.