IT was the end of an era for residents in Leyland this week as the bulldozers moved in to demolish the old Co-op building in Southern Towngate.

Almost 30 years after it opened in December 1970 the landmark building, opposite Leyland Market - which opened the same year, is being flattened to make way for a new Tesco supermarket.

Its downfall marks the beginning of a string of major changes to Leyland town centre, as plans take shape for redevelopment.

As one of the town's most familiar buildings the Co-op, owned by United Co-op, was a bustling supermarket until its closure nine years ago.

Older Leyland shoppers will remember it as one of the town's main food stores, also which housed a ground floor chemist and a furniture department on the first floor.

Regular shoppers had a Co-op 'divi' number' which enabled them to collect dividend stamps to redeem for money-off vouchers at the smaller Co-op store in Chapel Brow - now Rimmers Music shop. Do you remember your Co-op divi' number?

Following the closure of the Co-op furniture department in the mid-80s, the remainder of the shop was closed in July 1990 and the building was sealed off.

In recent years it has been targeted by vandals and criticised as an eyesore.

But for many of the residents in Leyland the demise of the Co-op marks the end of a chapter in the town's heritage.

Former Co-op employee Irene Carlisle, of Lever House Lane, Leyland, worked at the shop for 14 years before it closed.

She said: "I started in 1976 on cooked meats and cheese and later worked on the butchery stall. I remember it as a happy place which was always busy. When I saw it being bulldozed there was a little tug at the heart strings.

"It was one of the biggest supermarkets in Leyland at the time and the only one that had furnishings under the one roof such as beds, curtains and other items.

"It's a shame to see it go and the end of an era for Leyland."

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