News Shopper readers would most like to see a cinema on the Lowfield Road site in Dartford after Tesco’s withdrawal, research has suggested.

Twenty-eight per cent of participants in News Shopper’s poll (129 readers) would like to see a cinema set up with a close second suggestion being ‘it should become part of Central Park’ with 26 per cent (122 readers).

While all the options drew in a substantial number of votes, the most unpopular option was a residential development.

Tesco  pulled out last week despite having planning permission for an 8,000sq m store and 34 one-bed and 73 two-bed flats and despite having begun demolishing the site.

News Shopper:

The designs for 26 to 142 Lowfield Street were the latest in a long list of plans for a store on the street, first mooted in 2002.

But Tesco announced on January 8 it was closing 43 unprofitable stores across the UK and shelving plans to build a further 49 new "very large" stores - including Lowfield Street and Albion Road, Bexleyheath.

POLL RESULTS: What would you like to see done with the Lowfield Street site?

  • Another supermarket should take over News Shopper: 19 per cent (87 votes)
  • A leisure centre: 15 per cent (70 votes)
  • A cinema: 28 per cent (129 votes)
  • A residential development: 13 per cent (61 votes)
  • It should become part of Central Park: 26 per cent (122 votes)