Stokes Croft Tesco building up for sale

The freehold of the building which houses one of the most controversial supermarkets in Bristol is up for sale, for a cool £550,000.

The Tesco store on Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, was the scene of protests and riots last year. Now the freehold of numbers 138-142 is up for sale and being marketed by Suttons.

The details show that the let to Tesco has been set for 20 years from December 2009, and that Tesco pays an annual rent of £38,000 for its premises.

In November last year, a High Court judge ruled that Bristol City Council and Tesco both acted lawfully over the controversial supermarket in Stokes Croft.

No Tesco in Stokes Croft campaigners had highlighted what they believed had been flaws in the planning process, specifically the failure to assess the traffic impact of deliveries at the store.

Earlier in 2011, protesters applied for the review of the council’s planning procedures but it was initially rejected. That decision was appealed against and a second judge in Cardiff allowed the review to take place.

But Mr Justice Duncan Ouseley backed the council’s decision on December 8 last year to grant planning consent for changes to the service yard at the back of the new store, on the site of the former Jesters comedy club.

In April last year, riots broke out in the area after police raided a squat across the road from the store, saying there had been reason to believe people there had planned to attack the store with petrol bombs.

In 2010, protesters took over the site in an attempt to prevent Tesco from taking on the empty shop. Hundreds gathered on the street as bailiffs were called in to remove them by force.