The Co-operative Group has revealed it is to sell off its farmland in Leicestershire as part of a plan to “refocus” and “explore options” for the national business.
Its farms in the Stoughton Estate make up nearly a fifth of the group’s total 50,000-acre agricultural holding in England and Scotland.
The sale came as a complete surprise to the local farming community when it leaked via social media before the group confirmed this morning.
The move means more uncertainty for residents in the area who are worried that housing developers could want the land on the edge of the city for home building.
A spokesman for the Co-operative Group said he could not rule out the possibility of the group selling parcels of land to housing developers.
