THE Co-op is set to end its 148-year presence in the centre of Cinderford after the company announced that its Dockham Road store will become a Tesco.

Midcounties Cooperative announced last Tuesday (April 5) that it had sold its Cinderford store to Tesco, who will continue to operate it for food retail.

The supermarket will close as a Co-op at the end of May and will reopen as a Tesco in mid-June.

A statement from the Co-op announcing the sale said: “The Co-op Society regularly reviews its property portfolio to ensure that it is providing the best opportunity to deliver for its members and continues to support the communities in which it operates.

“As a result of this process, the Cinderford store has been identified as not fitting with the long-term strategy of the Society.

“The Midcounties Board has therefore approved the sale of the Cinderford site to Tesco, who will continue to operate it as a food retail store and will also take over operation of the Post Office.”

The statement added that all colleagues will transfer to Tesco and that Midcounties will continue to operate a Your Co-op Travel branch in store.

The Co-op has held a presence in Cinderford since 1874, and still has a smaller store opposite the new medical centre on Valley Road.

Rupert Newman, Chief Retail Officer for Your Co-op, said: “We would like to thank all our customers and members for shopping with us over the years we have been in Cinderford and I’d like to give a special thanks to all of our colleagues at the store, whose hard work and dedication has been incredible.

“We wish them all the best as they transfer to Tesco.

“We look forward to welcoming customers and members to our other Your Co-op Food stores in the Forest of Dean and wider Gloucestershire area.”

The sale is the latest development in a long-running saga between the major supermarkets in the town, with the Co-op having first stopped Tesco building on Valley Road before blocking a deal to develop Cinderford RFC’s Dockham Road ground - next door to the Co-op - back in 2009.

A u-turn from the rugby club years after negotiations began saw a deal agreed for the Co-op to use its car park in return for investment in the ground.

Then, in 2012, Asda began talks to build on the edge of the town, but the Co-op once again objected.

Locals protested outside the store, accusing the Co-op of holding the town back by limiting the amount of choice for shoppers.

Planning permission for the Asda store was then granted, with the Co-op withdrawing its final objection in 2017.

Meanwhile Lidl had moved in on the High Street, which made the site on the outskirts of town a less attractive prospect for Asda, and the store was never built.

The sale of the Cinderford store comes after Midcounties announced in 2020 that the future of its store on Lydney High Street was also in doubt, having also been identified as not fitting in with the company’s long term plans.

The Co-op then opened two new smaller stores in the Forest in 2021 - in Bream on Coleford Road and at the top of Lydney on Highfield Hill.