LEYTONSTONE town centre will die if the right decision is not made on who will take over the former Woolworths building, a ward councillor has warned.

The large store, in a high-profile position in High Road, has been vacant since January 5.

In the next couple of weeks the site will transfer back into council ownership, from Woolworths administrator Deloitte, after it failed to find a buyer.

The council will then try and find a tenant.

Many residents feel that the High Road area has been blighted by empty shops and an abundance of fast food shops and 99p stores in recent years.

And Cllr Marie Pye, Leytonstone ward councillor, is concerned that the wrong kind of establishment could further damage the area.

Speaking at a meeting of Leytonstone Community Council, Cllr Pye said: “As ward councillors we are really concerned about this, and I am pleased the site is coming back into council hands, so it is under our control.

“We need to put resources into getting the right tenant in there, the decision could kill or support our town centre.

“We don’t need a pound shop, or a furniture shop selling mattresses, we need something with more substance.”

Cllr Pye told the Guardian that she would like to see a new establishment which will add "value" to the area and "improve the food offer."

She said the authority had been in discussion with Sainsbury's, but the chain is reportedly reluctant to open a store so close to the large Tesco in Gainsborough Road.

Woolworths went in to administration late last year and the chain’s 807 UK stores, including four in Waltham Forest, closed over the new year period.

The council only holds the freehold of the Leytonstone building.

Cllr Keith Rayner, the council’s cabinet member for finance, said: “The property in Leytonstone is key to both the regeneration and the survival of the town centre and the council takes its role in bringing this much valued building back into retail use very seriously.”

The store in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, has been sold to supermarket chain Iceland and the store in Selborne Walk Shopping Centre is now a 99p shop.

A buyer or tenant has yet to be found for the store in Old Church Road, Chingford.

What would you like to see in the former Woolies building? Leave a comment below