Tesco presses ahead with Shrewsbury expansion plans

Controversial plans by Tesco to extend its Extra store in Shrewsbury by a third have finally been submitted to planning chiefs, officials said today.

Proposals to extend and improve the store in Harlescott have been lodged with Shropshire Council following a public consultation.

It comes after the supermarket giant last month rejected claims made by its own representatives that the plans would result in £2.7 million trade being lost from the town centre each year.

Tesco said it did not accept the figure provided by its representatives to town councillors at a June meeting, and claimed the loss would equate to £480,000 per annum.

Bosses say the store handles "substantially" more trade than it was originally designed for and the application is designed to improve the shopping environment in response to customer needs.

Tesco corporate affairs manager Sophie Akokhia today said: "Our application reflects many of the views expressed to us during our two-month public consultation exercise. In particular, local people were keen to maintain the banking services along Harlescott Lane, so we have adapted our original plans to include separate units that could be occupied by the banks, if they chose to do so.

"We have also looked hard at improving the traffic flow into the store car park from Harlescott Lane and our proposals include a new slip road coming directly into the Tesco car park.

"We would also like to create a dedicated lane off Battlefield Road for customers using the petrol station. Both of these ideas were widely welcomed by visitors to our public exhibition in June."

Officials say the plans would safeguard 420 jobs and create new part-time positions.