Lild has won a battle against Tesco and Co-op to gain planning permission for a new out-of-town store to the south of Warwick and Leamington Spa.

Plans to demolish Europa House, the vacant Wanzl building on the edge of the Heathcote Industrial Estate, and replace it with a new supermarket were objected to by Lidl's competitors who commissioned external planning experts to try to stop it.

It relates to a 'sequential test' that developments must go through to justify out-of-town bases, rules that are designed to protect the vitality of town centres.

Those applying for out-of-town sites have to consider alternative plots in town centre locations and on the edge of town centres first.

Representations from Tesco and Co-op argued that Lidl had not adequately demonstrated that their proposed new store could not be located more centrally with land currently occupied by the Warwick District Council-owned Covent Garden Car Park, Leamington, highlighted as the main alternative.

District councillors were set to consider a recommendation of approval from officers – the council's employed professionals – in September but the application was pulled from the agenda at the 11th hour to obtain "further clarity" on the sequential test as representations from both sides continued to flow through.

In a response dated September 16, the date of that the decision was initially meant to be taken, Lidl's planning consultants Rapleys said its planning statement related to the Heathcote site set out minimum rather than optimal space requirements, making Covent Garden too small.

They also cited that the council's independent consultants Lambert Smith Hampton and the council itself had agreed Covent Garden could legitimately be ruled out and pointed to its status as a potential housing growth location in the emerging South Warwickshire Local Plan.

"It is also critical to recognise that the site was not only discounted due to being unavailable, but also due to being unsuitable for the type of development proposed," read the Rapleys submission.

"The council's independent retail advisor's report noted that the site is not of a sufficient size to accommodate the development proposed, and is constrained by non-active frontages with a lack of pedestrian activity."

Tesco's planning experts Martin Robeson Planning Practice came back again ahead of this week's decision, maintaining that Covent Garden was a "highly suitable" site and that the difference between the sizes of the two sites was negligible, maintaining that Lidl could apply the flexibility referenced in sequential test rules to make it work.

They also questioned whether Covent Garden should have been ruled out on the basis that it is unlikely to be available for development in the next two-to-three years, citing the precedent of an appeal case from another part of the country.

Nevertheless, planning professionals continued to back the approach when asked by councillors on Tuesday.

Cllr Naveen Tangri asked: "Is Covent Garden Car Park really unavailable? Why was a site that may become available in two to three years ruled out when Lidl has three years to start building (at Heathcote)?"

Planning officer Erin Weatherstone said the council's external consultant had looked at the sequential test and the impact test that planners had to consider.

On Covent Garden, she added: "Further information was sought to identify when that might be likely to come forward and the period is approximately three years.

"In terms of the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework), there is no set time (that rules definitively) on availability, it is a matter of planning judgement.

"Officers had regard to the three-year period in relation to Covent Garden and we don't consider that to come forward in a reasonable time period for this proposal."

She added that the scale, complexity and specific circumstances of sites were also factors for consideration, concluding that officers were "satisfied the principle in this (Lidl's chosen) location can be supported because those tests have been met".

Councillors unanimously supported approval.