BRANDED as the ugliest building in Felixstowe - and one of the worst in Suffolk - it is finally coming down.Demolition is under way on the town's bus station, which has been an eyesore for decades.

BRANDED as the ugliest building in Felixstowe - and one of the worst in Suffolk - it is finally coming down.

Demolition is under way on the town's bus station, which has been an eyesore for decades.

The ticket office closed 20 years ago, buses no longer stop there, and until recently it was used just for overnight bus parking.

It is being torn down to make way for a multi-million pound new 1,400 sq metre Lidl supermarket plus car park.

As well as the bus depot, a former newsagents and chip shop next door are both also being razed, and the development site will include Suffolk Coastal's old reporting depot and storage area at the rear, alongside the footpath leading to the Coronation Estate.

Work on the demolition at the Ordnance roundabout in Langer Road is progressing well and German supermarket giant Lidl hopes to start work on its store in the summer.

The company has already gained planning permission for the project after Suffolk Coastal agreed to drop its plans for a larger comprehensive redevelopment of the site and Garrison Lane car park next door for businesses and homes.

Campaigner and former councillor Pat Loveday, part of a group of residents who petitioned for the project to go-ahead, said: “Everyone is so pleased to see the bus station go - it has been such an eyesore.

“Now we are looking forward to Lidl being built and opening, which should give the area a real boost.”

Many people in the area are without cars and find it difficult to get to the town centre or out of town shops.

Lidl expects the store to provide 25 to 30 new jobs with an annual turnover of �2.6 million.

Are you looking forward to a Lidl supermarket on the site? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk

FASTFACTS: Lidl

Lidl opened its first stores in 1973 and by the 1980s was a household name throughout Germany. During the 1990s the firm started to open stores outside Germany and today they can be found in nearly every country in Europe.

It opened its first store in the UK in 1994 and now has more than 380 stores.

The company is pledged to a vigorous expansion programme and actively asks people with land to submit it for assessment and possible purchase.

It is on the look-out for sites in towns or edge of town locations on main roads for stores between 8,000 sq ft and 19,000 sq ft of around three quarters of an acre or larger for mixed use schemes.