A MAJOR supermarket retailer has withdrawn from its planned conversion of a former Okehampton newsagent store, leaving the future of the property in disarray.

McColl’s on Fore Street, Okehampton, was recently set to become a Morrisons Daily, but Morrisons has now admitted to reversing its decision on the basis of previously unforseen renovation work required to be completed in order for the store to reopen.

A spokesperson for Morrisons told the Times: “During the planning period leading up to conversion, we discovered there was a substantial amount of property work that needed to be completed to bring the store up to a suitable condition. Following an assessment of the costs involved it was deemed commercially unviable to proceed with the conversion and so it will not be reopening; we have closed the store permanently.”

Morrisons also confirmed it is in the process of amending its website to reflect this decision; in recent weeks both the retailer’s website and Google have incorrectly listed the store as “a franchise store run by a third party” with current opening hours.

A former employee of the store stated in a post on the Okehampton Information Hub Facebook group that this move by the retailer has left those promised jobs now either displaced or without employment, with staff working in the store last week to remove the remaining stock. Several comments from local residents on this post expressed concern that asbestos needed to be removed from the building, however this information was not specified by Morrisons.

On May 6 last year, it was announced that McColl’s would enter voluntary administration with PricewaterhouseCoopers after it was reported that the retailer was on the verge of financial collapse due to increasing debt and a loss of income attributed to the coronavirus pandemic. On May 9, Morrisons agreed to acquire McColl’s in an insolvency arrangement, later announcing on November 1 it would close down 132 loss-making McColl’s stores during the remainder of the year and convert those remaining into Morrisons Daily stores within the next two to three years.

Prior to 2016, McColl’s traded at the Fore Street property under the name of Martin’s — a chain of newsagents the group purchased in 1998.

Tony Leech, Okehampton North ward borough councillor and Okehampton town councillor, said: “This is tragic news and a bad move for Okehampton. Preferably, another retailer needs to market that shop — it’s a big space in the town centre which I hope will remain a retail premises. What we don’t want is the town centre to die.”