M&S signs deal for new Chorley store

In a deal signed between the retail giant and Chorley Council bosses tonight, the store will open in the extended Market Walk development.

Last week it was revealed that M&S was still in negotiations with the council over renting space in the extended Market Walk shopping development - eight months after it began to reassess its involvement in the scheme.

The company - intended to be a flagship store in the new development - appeared to have withdrawn from the project entirely in November 2017, before it emerged in January this year that it was considering a smaller presence than previously planned.

But on social media, the council said: "A Marks and Spencer Foodhall will be coming to Chorley in the Market Walk extension with the contract signed this evening.

Until tonight, the Reel cinema chain was the only operator to have signed an agreement to lease a unit, but so-called heads-of-terms agreements have also been reached with Loungers bar and restaurant and an unnamed leisure and restaurant chain.