A new Co-op is set to open less than 500 metres from an empty pub touted to be transformed into a Sainsbury’s Local.

The convenience store will be built in Blossom Street in the Spring Acre housing estate in Bapchild, near Sittingbourne.

It will fill Units A and B of a hybrid three-storey building which also has 10 flats.

The shop will be 276 sq m, just less than half of the 650 sq m of retail space provided on the estate.

It is expected to open in August.

It received permission to sell alcohol from Swale council’s licence community on Monday, April 22.

The other units to the left of the building are currently vacant.

There are 30 car parking spaces for shoppers.

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The Co-op could throw up potential issues for potential supermarkets looking to transform the Fox and Goose pub into a convenience store.

The boozer, which dates back to the 17th century, closed in May 2022 due to increasing costs, rent prices and utility bills and has been vacant since.

It was sold in November by Fleurets, a leisure property specialist, for £445,000.

It is unknown who the buyer is but the former landlady, Rebecca Baker, told KentOnline in August 2022 that a kebab shop owner had viewed the property and said she had been told Sainsbury's had also shown interest.

The retail units were given full approval by the council in 2019 as part of the larger development – then labelled Stones Farm.

The housing estate is made up of 311 homes but was just one of the applications to build homes in Bapchild.

In 2016, the council granted permission in principle to build between 550 and 600 homes.

The development is still under construction by housebuilders Chartham Homes, although some homes are now occupied.

It was opposed by residents and Bapchild Parish councillors who wanted to see the farmland protected.

Co-op has 2,564 franchise stores in the country, as of its latest annual report in 2023.

Co-op has been approached for further information.