IT WAS one of the biggest planning battles ever seen in a Hampshire community.

Two applications to build a £7 million Lidl supermarket in Hythe sparked strong views for and against, with hundreds of people on both sides of the debate making their views known.

The first proposal was rejected by just one vote but councillors later approved a revised scheme by an overwhelming majority.

Now Lidl has ended months of speculation by revealing the store's opening date.

Work on the project is due to start later this year, with the first customers expected to walk through the door in early 2019.

As reported in the Daily Echo, the 2,194 square metre supermarket will create about 40 jobs.

Lidl's initial application was turned down by New Forest District Council in May last year, with one member describing the proposed store as a "large tin box" that resembled buildings normally found on industrial estates.

Lidl later submitted a revised scheme which aimed to ensure that the supermarket blended in with nearby St John's Church and other historic buildings.

The new design was approved by 16 votes to one at a meeting of the council's planning and development control committee last September.

Members said Lidl had replaced a "square box" with something that was "much more fitting".

During the debate it emerged that the council had received 48 letters of objection but 308 from people who supported the proposal.

Council officers said Lidl had sent the authority a 3,969-name petition - and 43 letters - from people who wanted the application to succeed.

The store will be built on land opposite the Hythe and Dibden Parish Council offices in St John's Street as part of a larger project to revitalise the village.

Flats are due to spring up on a site currently occupied by PC Building Supplies, which is moving from South Street to Hardley Industrial Estate.

Churchill Retirement Living has been given planning permission to build 36 apartments on the site but is now seeking consent for 43 flats.

The new proposal has come under fire from Hythe residents, who say the proposed development will be too big.

But the application cites the country's ageing population and says the flats will ease the shortage of purpose-built accommodation for the elderly.

It adds: "There would be no negative impacts resulting from the proposed development."