THE developer involved in the long-running saga to bring a Lidl store to Rosyth has sold part of its business.

However, Glasgow-based Mactaggart & Mickel said the sale of the housebuilding operation for £46.3 million to Springfield Properties won't impact plans for a supermarket.

They own the site – the former home of Rosyth FC – between Admiralty Road and Castle Road that has long been earmarked for a Lidl store but progress has been painfully slow.

But any concern that the sale would cause any further complications has been dismissed.

A spokesperson told the Press: "The situation is unchanged by Springfield’s acquisition of Mactaggart & Mickel’s housebuilding business.

"Mactaggart & Mickel remains in ownership of the site and is committed to working with partners to find a solution."

The firm has been building houses since 1925 and the sale of that part of the business will allow them to focus on land investment and the private rented sector.

Rosyth FC moved out of Recreation Park in April 2018 after Fife Council agreed to sell the land for a Lidl supermarket.

As part of the deal, Mactaggart & Mickel were to provide a replacement pitch and facilities, which was to be at the Fleet Grounds.

However, neither supermarket nor pitch have been delivered and the council has since decided to build a replacement Inverkeithing High School at the Fleet Grounds.

Lidl is also supposed to be opening a supermarket in Dunfermline, at Halbeath Retail Park, as part of an extension that would also bring a new Marks and Spencer Foodhall and seven other shop units.

Planning permission was given to Royal London, who own the park, in August 2017, but work on the extension has never started and the developer has been given extra time due to the pandemic.

A spokesperson for Lidl said: "We remain committed to bringing stores to both Rosyth and Dunfermline and we’re still working on site opportunities in the towns but don’t have any further updates at this time.

"We look forward to sharing firm plans with the local communities as soon as we are in a position to do so."