NEWS that retail giant John Lewis has decided not to progress with a new store for Brighton is bitterly disappointing.

Equally disappointing is that the company won’t tell us exactly why.

And it didn’t speak to the city council before it made its decision.

The city business economy was looking forward to a huge boost for John Lewis.

A huge new store, millions of pounds worth of investment and much-needed jobs for local people.

A public consultation was held last September and all seemed to be on gtrack.

At the time Andrew Mills, senior acquisitions and development manager at John Lewis, told us: “We have held a long-term ambition to build a new department store in Brighton and we want to hear local people’s views on our proposals.

“We have developed an outline planning application so that we can establish the scale of our new shop.

“We are also sharing sketches showing what the shop could look like and we want to hear what people would like to see in the department store.”

The proposed shop would have represented a multi-million pound investment by John Lewis into Brighton and Hove and create 250 jobs.

It was also understood John Lewis had been searching for a suitable site in the city for more than a decade.

Now we are left with empty promises and no real answers why it has abandoned its plan. It is a day of real regret for Brighton and Hove.

John Lewis would have been a massive attraction for the city.