THE white-liners were out at the top of South Street, Wellington, earlier this week remarking the roundabout which sets drivers on to Pyle Thorne and Wellesley Park.

On close inspection it looks as though the white line depicting the roundabout has got mighty small. In fact drivers heading up from South Street are forced to go hard left before swinging back to go up Wellesley Park.

I stayed by the roundabout for a short time on Monday evening and every driver ignored the fresh white lines, cutting across the roundabout before going up Wellesley Park. And I mean every driver. They would have been better off not putting the lines down at all.

I STOOD outside the new local Lidl store in the mud in early January and took a picture of the unfinished building - and it was not a pretty sight.

Heavy contractor vehicles had churned up the proposed entrance and car park and I thought there was no way it would be finished by the end of February.

But when I read a leaflet distributed by Lidl saying the store would be opening on February 23 (that was yesterday), I could not believe it.

Of course, it was all a mistake and Lidl admitted earlier this week that this was an administrative error and new leaflets will be issued with the opening date being Thursday, March 23.

So, not a good start locally for Lidl who have been opening new stores at the rate of almost 50 a year and plan to have 1,100 up and running by Christmas.

It’s like a well-oiled machine. They move into a field - and not much more than six months later it is another outlet for shoppers.

The store on the outskirts of Wellington - near Cades Farm - will provide competition for Waitrose, Asda and Co-op in the town. It is likely that Asda will be most affected.

Generally, though, competition is good for shoppers who have experienced a big hike in prices. But for those smaller traders in town it is another worry.

That’s why it is so important to support local shops. We still have a good number and we want to keep it that way.