AN empty shop on an Aberystwyth retail park is being demolished today (Friday).

The former Mountain Warehouse store, which sits in Rheidol retail park, is being bulldozed to create extra parking space.

The plans were given the go ahead in July 2023, despite objections from the town council and nearby retailers.

After reconfiguring the retail park and expanded its own store since the freehold purchase, Lidl wanted to provide extra car parking space by demolishing the now empty 296sqm unit.

The demolition will create 23 extra parking spaces in the town centre car park, which provides 90 minutes of free parking.

Aberystwyth Town Council objected to the demolition plans when they went before county planners, saying that it “objects to the removal of quite a new building in favour of more parking spaces.”

Sharon Thomas, Director of CRAFT which uses the car park as a loading area and access, objected to the plans saying it would impact the business, with demolition work likely to “cause chaos”.