DETAILED plans for a new Lidl supermarket and 25 flats in the centre of Alexandria have been lodged with council bosses.

An application for the “erection of retail food store and 25 flats, including access, landscaping, car parking and public realm enhancements” at a “mixed use development site” on Mitchell Way, was received by West Dunbartonshire Council on January 12 and validated seven days later – though detailed background papers on the plans only went live on Monday morning.

The application is for a range of one and two bedroom flats over four floors, the Lidl food store as well as adding an extra 93 car parking space to the facility.

A supporting design statement published on the council’s website states: “This new housing development has been designed to make provision for the access of people with disabilities including the provision of barrier free access throughout.”

It also reveals for the first time that Lidl’s chosen development partner for the residential side of the scheme is Glenesk Homes.

Based in Glasgow, the firm’s website describes it as “a specialist developer, playing a part in addressing homelessness and the affordable housing shortfall in Scotland”.

The plans – which will see the long-awaited demolition of the existing buildings on the southern side of Mitchell Way – have been on the wish-list of the council, and residents, for more than a decade, while Lidl’s interest in building a store nearby dates back to 2016.

A year ago, councillors agreed to ask Lidl to reconsider its original plans for the new store by creating a clear boundary between existing shops and the proposed new homes and having the store frontage facing on to Mitchell Way itself.

A Lidl representative told the authority’s infrastructure, regeneration and economic development committee that the firm would “try and address any concerns raised as best we can”.