Plans to turn a former magistrates' court into a new budget supermarket have been revealed.

German chain Aldi announced earlier this year that it was hoping to secure permission to demolish the old court building in Homer Road and open a new store.

New designs of how the revamped site will look have now been unveiled after the supermarket lodged its plans with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.

The new 22,915 sq ft store will sit next to the town's Touchwood shopping centre and a nearby Waitrose which opened in Homer Road in 2017.

CGI of the new Aldi as seen from Homer Road
CGI of the new Aldi as seen from Homer Road

It will have parking for 81 vehicles and is expected to create around 40 new jobs and support a further 100 during the construction phase.

The application site consist of an existing two-storey building and separate two storey annex and the complex is currently being used by Aldi as a regional training centre for new and existing employees.

Newly submitted documents reveal that a mixed-use, multi-storey development had been proposed which would have seen an Aldi topped by apartments.

However, this plan was dismissed on the grounds that it was not considered possible to achieve such a scheme that could have accommodated and delivered the operational requirements of both retail and residential elements in a commercially viable and timely manner.

The project has been designed by Birmingham-based STOAS Architects.

How the new Aldi in Solihull could look
How the new Aldi in Solihull could look

A design statement said: "The current building on the site is dated and of a poor design, relative to what has been built in the street scene in more recent times.

"The proposal will bring a further improvement to the street (and) complement the existing town centre environment via its appropriate scale, height, massing and sense of enclosure.

"The Aldi development will strengthen the retail mix within the locale, increase main food store provision and help meet the retail needs of the resident local catchment area and workers by enhancing consumer choice."

Solihull Magistrates' Court has lain empty since 2016 when the Ministry of Justice closed it although judicial services ceased at the court in 2014.

The closure, alongside four others in the Midlands region, was part of a Government move to save cash as the Solihull court cost £250,000 to run.