A new tenant has finally been found to take on a city superstore which has sat vacant for two years.

The vast site on Canterbury's Wincheap Industrial Estate has been derelict since Homebase moved out in January 2019 - and has since cost owners Canterbury City Council tens of thousands in lost revenue.

But the authority says a new tenant has now been found for the premises, which it hopes will be "refurbished and brought back into use in the very near future".

It is not the first firm to set its eyes on the empty Cow Lane site.

A year after Homebase bowed out of the city as part of a UK-wide restructure, it emerged DIY retailer Wickes was hoping to lease the superstore.

But the plans fell through a few months ago after many objected to Wickes' plans to chop down a dozen healthy trees at the site.

The city council had been in advanced negotiations with the firm, which had applied for planning permission for some alterations, including chopping down mature London planes to make the store more visible from the road.

More than 100 people lodged objections against the controversial proposal, and the city council's planning committee eventually approved Wickes' application, but not the felling - prompting Wickes to pull out of negotiations.

The authority remains tight-lipped over who is now set to move in.

Spokesman Leo Whitlock said: "As we have repeatedly predicted, we are delighted to report terms have been negotiated and agreed for a new lease to a prospective tenant at the former Homebase site in Cow Lane, Wincheap, and lawyers have been instructed.

"We hope contracts will be exchanged very soon and that these premises are refurbished and brought back into use in the very near future."

Th development is welcome news for the cash-strapped city council, which has lost thousands in potential rental income since Homebase vacated the site.

The large superstore was purchased by the authority for £3.5m in 2013 - but has sat empty for almost a third of the time since then.

The authority has downplayed the lost rental income, stressing that buying the building was a long-term strategic purchase that would “inevitably have its ups and downs”.

Council spokesman Leo Whitlock previously previously told KentOnline the authority could not reveal how much is being lost in rent because it would “reveal our hand when it comes to commercial negotiations with prospective tenants”.

But in forecasting “overspends of £288,000 and £306,000 for commercial and industrial rents”, the council’s property team last month said: “A significant part of this is due to a vacancy at Wincheap, however there are also various losses of rental income forecast as a result of Covid-19 impact on businesses.”

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