Demolition work to clear the site for a new Co-op store in Port Erin has begun.

The new store is to be built on the site of a former funeral directors and florist on Station Road and will be modelled on the Co-op outlet in Crosby.

JM Project Management’s planning application was approved last September.

The planning committee voted five votes to two in favour of the scheme (24/91051/B).

In recent years, the site comprised the Flower Pot, a single house off Droghadfayle Road named Norville and a showroom.

The old showroom building has now been reduced to rubble by contractors Manx Demolition.

Mark Pearce of applicants JM Project Management Ltd told the planning committee that the existing Co-op store in the village was too small to cope with demand.

The planning officer had recommended the application be refused, arguing the out-of-town centre development could threaten the long-term vitality and sustainability of Port Erin’s main shopping area.

He said its ‘starkly modern’ design was out of keeping and the demolition of buildings with historical and architectural significance was unjustified.

But Port Erin Commissioners supported the application provided issues relating to highway safety were resolved.

The main building on the site dates back to the end of the 19th century and was the Port Erin infants' school until 1927 when Rushen School opened at Four Roads.

It went on to become a chapel of rest for a funeral home.

The development is to include six tourist apartments on the first floor.

JM Project Management had made changes to the scheme to address parking and highway concerns.

The planning officer had said that based on out-of-town retail parking standards, the scheme should include 32 spaces for shoppers but it only had 29 - and six of these were exclusively allocated for residents of the first-floor tourist apartments.