Supermarket bosses expect to hit Dundee City Council with legal action after councillors barred their latest store from selling alcohol.
Aldi told the Courier that it would appeal Dundee City licensing board’s decision, warning that it could torpedo the firm’s plans to open a branch on Myrekirk Road if not overturned.
Bosses at the discount retailer have been in discussions with lawyers ever since councillors dropped the bombshell at a meeting on Thursday.
Robert Stoddart, property director of Aldi stores in Scotland, said thedevelopment would not go ahead unless the decision could be overturned.
He said: “We are extremelydisappointed with this decision, since building a store without an alcohol licence is not an option for Aldi or for any of our competitors.
“It is a great pity that all the benefits being advocated by our agent and Dundee’s Citizen of the Year StellaCarrington on what a new store would bring to Charleston and the wider community were lost on the boardmembers.
“We are taking legal advice with regard to appealing the decision.”
The firm said being forced to abandon its plans could cost Dundee the 30 Living Wage jobs planned for the Myrekirk Road store and potentially as many as 100 more.
The board’s unanimous rejection of an off-sales licence for the store was made in the context of the city’s landmark overprovision policy, which was introduced in August 2014.
It affects all areas of the city, with the exception of the waterfront, and came following a damning report into the social and monetary cost of alcohol in the city by the Dundee Alcohol and Drug Partnership.
The step was taken to provide an additional level of control over the number of businesses selling alcohol in the city, though members of the legal profession warned it would be “extremely difficult” for new businesses to open or expand.
Last month the policy was used to block plans for a high-end restaurant and cocktail bar, as developer Cosmo Molinaro was denied an alcohol licence for his Caird Rest venture.
He had already invested more than£1 million in an effort to create Dundee’s finest eatery saving a historic B-listed building in the process.