Aldi signs deal for Goodyear site

Aldi has signed a deal to create a 17,000 sq ft store as part of the £150 million transformation of Wolverhampton's former Goodyear site, the budget retailer revealed today.

Its new store will be the centrepiece of the development and bosses behind its transformation are now on the lookout for four other shops to line up alongside it.

If plans for the redevelopment of the 85-acre site are given the go-ahead, it is hoped work to create the supermarket could start next summer.

Developers St Modwen took over the land from Goodyear in 2002 and are preparing to create around 600 homes, a school to replace Oxley Primary and a 16-acre public park with sports facilities.

Developers have already demolished part of the old factory site, including Goodyear's iconic blue and yellow chimney which had towered above the city for decades.

They are now preparing to create an access road.

Peter Rudd, development manager at St Modwen, said: "The signing of Aldi will trigger yet more activity on the site, allowing us to build out the access road to the planned retail and residential areas which will, in turn, start opening up more of the scheme."