Controversial plans for a new Lidl have been given a major boost.

The budget supermarket wants to open a 1,457-square-metre store at the World of Water site in Watford Road, near Hunton Bridge, but its plans were twice shot down as Hertfordshire County Council raised “fundamental concerns” over access.

However, a new document has now been added to the Three Rivers District Council planning portal detailing the ongoing correspondence since the last round of feedback in March, when the highway authority was not yet satisfied.

The 160-page document concludes by stating that “it was confirmed that an agreement in principle has been agreed with the Local Highway Authority and Ardent Consulting Engineers on the arrangement of the access”.

Hertfordshire County Council has confirmed it is happy with the new layout and added that its updated response with all the details should be available on the planning portal soon.

A spokesperson said: “We have been working with the applicant’s transport consultants, and having reviewed their revised submissions we are now content with the proposed highways layout.”

The earlier "fundamental issues" related to the access layout and a lack of supporting information to show such a large store would work within the existing road network. These led to the authority recommending planning permission not be granted at the time.

Specifically, many locals had worried about the increased number of vehicles turning across the busy A41 and additional traffic at the Hunton Bridge roundabout.

According to the new document, however, “it is concluded that there would be no severe off-site highway impacts that would warrant a reason for refusal”.

The latest arrangements involve reconfiguring existing access so that the access road is a minimum width of 7.3 metres until reaching the car parking area, and moving a pedestrian crossing so that a “ghost island” right turning lane can be created.

For foot and cycle traffic, a crossing would be added and the existing foot/cycle way along the eastern edge of the A41 would be extended.

It adds that the crossing could potentially be upgraded to a toucan crossing in the future, although the application itself does not include plans to do so.