DELAYED plans to bulldoze a York supermarket and replace it with another shop have been approved.

City of York Council planning councillors deferred proposals by Kwik Save's owners Somerfield and Caddick Developments Ltd to bulldoze the shop in Hull Road.

Residents objected to the scheme on the grounds that it would be too dense and out of character for the surrounding area.

But at a meeting of the council's east area planning sub-committee members gave them their seal of approval.

Councillors heard the developers had changed the layout from one 'T' shape block to one long block along the back of the site and a separate small block at the front.

The historic building was originally constructed as an engineering works, but was used for many years as a print works and was said to have housed prisoners of war during the First World War. It was one of the longest-established supermarkets in York, and became the country's first Hillards store when it opened for business in October 1968.

The store changed hands in 1987 as part of Tesco's £200 million buyout of Hillards, and again a year later, when it was bought by William Jackson and Son for its Grandways brand. Kwik Save became the latest owner of the property in 1992, when William Jackson and Son decided to switch their business from supermarkets to convenience stores.

Bristol-based retailer Somerfield bought Kwik Save in 1998 and operates more than 1,250 stores nationwide.

Coun Derek Smallwood said: "The developers have gone out of their way to meet all of our specifications, and this new store will certainly revitalise that area and be a vast improvement on what's there."

Updated: 10:23 Monday, July 18, 2005