A SAINSBURY’S store has closed at a service station less than two years after it opened and it will be replaced by a SPAR.

Sainsbury’s launched a small franchise trial in partnership with Blackburn-based firm Euro Garages in 2016.

It saw the opening of a Sainsbury’s local store in Euro Garages headquarters at Beehive Trading Park in Haslingden Road.

But following a ‘commercial review’, a joint decision has been made to bring the trial to a close.

The Blackburn store closed on February 2 (Friday) and Sainsbury’s said staff at the store continue to be employed by Euro Garages.

A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “Sainsbury’s launched a small franchise trial, in partnership with Euro Garages, in 2016.

“Following a commercial review, a joint decision has been made to bring the trial to a close.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council regeneration boss, Cllr Phil Riley, said: "Anywhere closing is a disappointment but this store is going to re-open in another capacity, so this is something you'd expect from a large company like Euro Garages."

The deal saw fast-growing Euro Garages secure a deal with Sainsbury’s to introduce the firm’s high-class convenience stores to its service stations.

It trialled six of the supermarket giant’s outlets in its forecourts as the next step in its expansion, but that trial has now ended.

The firm, headquartered on Blackburn’s Beehive Trading Park,was named in 2016 as one of the top 75 private companies in the UK after securing a £1.3billion private equity investment.

Euro Garages, founded by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa in 2001, started with a single petrol filling station in Bury and now has more than 330 sites across the UK.

It has established itself as one of the Britain’s fastest-growing businesses building high-profile partnerships with Subway, Starbucks, Greggs and Burger King.