Aldi has withdrawn its Meredith Road store from the market - and plans to operate it alongside its new Europa Way supermarket, near Sproughton Road, for the foreseeable future.

The discount retailer had engaged a Cambridge-based commercial estate agent to market the store with a view to selling the freehold or leasing it for £175,000 a year.

However, when the estate agent was approached by an Ipswich-based property company, the potential buyer was told Aldi was no longer looking to sell it - because it planned to run it alongside the new Europa Way to see whether they can justify running both sites.

The new store is rapidly taking shape on a site opposite the town's Morrisons superstore and Aldi says it should be open for business during the spring.

The Meredith Road Aldi store is near the heart of the Whitton estate. It is understood to attract a significant number of shoppers who walk to the store and combine a visit there with a trip to other stores nearby.

The parking is limited but, with more people now working from home, the ability to be able to shop nearby is thought to be welcomed by some shoppers.

Europa Way is about two miles away and would be a long walk for anyone without transport.

It has more car parking than Meredith Road but it is not on a bus route, which also makes Meredith Road popular for some shoppers.

If Meredith Road is retained, it could mean that a proposal to build a new for store on the Anglia Retail Park opposite the town's largest Asda store could go back on the agenda.

This was ruled out because planners would not give permission for a new store to be built if there was an empty unit that could be used nearby - and Meredith Road would fit that criterion.

But if Aldi continued to operate there and another store wanted to develop a site at Anglia Retail Park, that planning objection would no longer apply.