Lidl has bulldozed a much-loved ex-watering hole despite pleas from the community not to do this until planning permission was granted for it to build a food store.

Demolition workers started knocking down the Organ and Dragon, in London Road, Ewell, last week.

The supermarket bought the site from KFC in February and said it planned to demolish the historic building, which is not listed and not protected architecturally, and build a food store.

But neighbours voiced their concerns that the site could lay barren, blighting the surrounding area, following demolition, if Epsom Council refuses planning permission for a new store - a distinct possibility given that KFC's plans were rejected on traffic grounds.

Earlier in the week, the UK's largest supermarket chain, Tesco, was reported to be "hoarding" land and buildings covering an area big enough to build 15,000 homes.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Lidl refused to comment on how much land Lidl was sitting on.

But, of the ex-Organ and Dragon site, he said: "Lidl's property team are currently working on plans to submit a pre-application advice to the council.

"Following that, we will be in a position to hold a public consultation as part of our planning application to present our design proposals to the community."

When pressed on why Lidl had started demolishing the site before obtaining planning permission for a new food store, he added: "While we do not have any further information to give out at this time, we look forward to allaying any concerns residents may have during the public consultation."

Ewell councillor Clive Woodbridge said he was surprised that Lidl had demolished the building without first obtaining planning permission.

Your Local Guardian:

He said: "Lidl are quite within their rights to do what they want to. 

"They own the land and the law allows them to demolish it without planning permission.  Whether the law should be changed is a moot point.

"It's a little bit presumptuous as they don't have planning permission yet and it could lead to an empty or a blighted site for years to come.

"It could have waited otherwise what they have done has precluded another business using the building as a pub or restaurant. 

"When the building was last up for sale a brewery business was interested in buying it but lost out to Lidl. 

"You might surmise they are trying to put pressure on the community and others by presenting them with a fait accompli - 'the building's gone, you've got to let us do something'. 

"I hope that's not the case because otherwise they don't understand how the planning process works.

"The residents didn't want it to be a KFC and the planning committee decided it wasn't viable for traffic reasons which has led us to this particular situation." 

Your Local Guardian:

Last month, the Epsom Guardian revealed that Lidl had approached two homes on Elmwood Drive, Ewell, located behind the site, in a bid to buy their homes, to overcome the potential hurdle of traffic concerns hampering planning permission for a store on the site.

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