Chester will soon be home to its first ever Lidl store on the Greyhound Retail Park.

After a spokesperson for the budget retailer confirmed in March that the chain would be opening a new supermarket in the former Next premises, there has since been some confusion as to why a 'To let' sign was recently put up in the window of the vacant building.

Now The Chronicle can reveal that the store will actually be split in half to create two separate units - meaning the Lidl 'superstore' that customers were hoping for will be much smaller than at first anticipated.

However, Lidl have stressed they have not in any way changed their plans for the site and had never intended to take up the entire unit vacated by Next.

According to Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC) planning documents, the other unit will be sub-let. There is no indication yet as to whether anyone has expressed an interest in this unit.

It also says that the new Lidl store, which was described as a 'multi million pound investment' for the area, will be internally and externally refurbished, with the car park rearranged to accommodate a trolley bay and increased provision for disabled and parent and child parking spaces.

The store will also feature an in-store bakery and customer toilets.

Lidl UK’s regional head of property Stuart Jardine told The Chronicle back in March: “We are delighted to be opening a new store in Chester, which marks another milestone in our ambitious store expansion programme.

"We’ve seen incredible demand for Lidl stores across the country and look forward to offering our quality products and incredible value to shoppers in and around Chester.”

The planned store in Chester will add to Lidl’s existing 700 stores and will form part of the company’s growth plans which will see it open up to 50 new stores a year.