LIDL’S proposal to open a cut-price supermarket in Bridport may have been scuppered by the arrival of Waitrose.

West Dorset District Council planning officers are understood to have withdrawn their support for the budget chain’s edge-of-town store, because there is no longer a provable ‘need’ for it.

Now Lidl chiefs believe they intend to use delegated powers to refuse the application – before it even reaches the planning committee.

The latest development comes after a new retail assessment shows that Waitrose – with its wider customer base – will have a much bigger turnover than the town centre Somerfield store it is replacing.

It means Lidl may no longer be able to claim the ‘planning need’ it requires for its proposed supermarket on the Travis Perkins site – where it planned to create up to 40 new jobs.

But bosses at the company are furious and want to challenge the figures in open council.

They say it would be totally unfair to deny their application a public hearing – especially in view of the ‘huge amount’ of support they received.

This week they urged the district council to allow the bid to go before the elected planning committee – a call echoed by Bridport town and West Dorset District councillor Ros Kayes.

She said: “If it is the case that officers at West Dorset District Council have made a decision under delegated powers on this issue then I will be using my right as ward councillor to call in the decision on Lidl and bring it to committee.”

A spokeswoman for the district council would not confirm that officers were planning to reject the Lidl application. She said: “We are still waiting for a report on the retail impact of this application from an expert.”