Lidl’s first ever PUB plans unveiled for £410k bar inside supermarket – where punters can drink booze bought in store

PLANS for Lidl's new £410,000 bar inside one of its supermarkets have been revealed after it won a High Court battle.

Architect drawings show the design for the pub in Northern Ireland, which will offer punters the choice to enjoy a drink inside the store or take away.

Sketches sent off to planning officials reveal the bar will have a selection of tables and chairs as well as stools lined up along the bar.

There will also be two exit doors - one directly to the car park, and the other straight to the store.

There will also be three toilets: a standard loo, one for staff and a unisex toilet.

It will also have a chill store, keg room, storage area and office space.

There will also be an 'off-sales' area where booze can be bought for consumption and taken off the premises.

The plans for the Dundonald store in County Down were first proposed in 2020 but were met with fierce backlash from smaller businesses.

Laws in Northern Ireland mean that no new alcohol licenses can be granted unless another one is given up.

Off-licence business Philip Russell Ltd objected, but Mr Justice Colton rejected the complaint.

The Belfast-based company argued that Lidl didn't demonstrate that there were already shops and pubs in the area selling alcohol - which is part of the Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

Philip Russell also claimed that Lidl was attempting to find a loophole in Northern Ireland's alcohol licencing laws by calling the service a pub and an office.

The complaint was rejected by the judge, who said: "The application was a novel one is not a reason for refusing it."

"It may well be that it will not meet the full demand for licenced premises within the vicinity given its size and lack of food provision.

"That however does not mean that (Lidl) fails to establish inadequacy."

He added: "I accept that it has concluded that the public house will be profitable, knowing that if it closed through lack of profitability an evitable consequence would be that the off-licence permission would lapse following any such decision.

"I am satisfied that it meets the statutory requirements and there is no good reason for refusing the application."

Commenting in 2020, a Lidl spokesperson told The Sun the concept would offer shoppers "an off-licence service along with a public house".

The cut-price supermarket is yet to reveal how much they will charge for the booze or what kind of alcohol they would stock.

It is also unclear if the supermarket would bring the format to the rest of the UK if successful.

Lidl is not the first supermarket to open a pub.

Tesco temporarily opened a pub in London to celebrate the King's Coronation back in May 2023.

It was located in Farringdon and sold Coronation themed food alongside drinks.

However, it was just a pop-up and closed after two days.

Back in 2019, Sainsbury's also opened a low alcohol pub in London for just one day.

It was located on New Oxford Street and everything on offer has to be entirely non-alcoholic or have an ABV of just 0.5%.

The Waitrose in Kings Cross has its own wine bar for customers to try before they buy.

The Sun has contacted Lidl Northern Ireland for comment.

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