Sainsbury's joins in Whitchurch superstore battle

Store wars in a Shropshire town are heating up after Sainsbury's formally lodged a bid for a new supermarket with Shirehall officials.

The retail giant is in a battle with rival Tesco to build a new store in Whitchurch.

Now Sainsbury's has submitted a planning application to Shropshire Council to build a 2,789 square metre food store at a site off London Road, near the town centre.

It would create up to 250 jobs and have a 300-space car park and customer restaurant.

It comes as it emerged that one supermarket has been given planning permission every working day over the last two years.

An investigation for the BBC's Panorama programme earlier this week showed the big four supermarkets - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons - have had more than 550 schemes approved in the last two years.

The Sainsbury's application for Whitchurch has been lodged by the supermarket and developer Terrace Hill following a public exhibition last month.

It will soon be online and available at council offices for residents to view.

Terrace Hill development director Duncan McEwan said: "I'm very happy to confirm that the application for a Sainsbury's food store on London Road has now been submitted.

"This follows a period of public consultation from which we received over 450 feedback forms and around 90 per cent support for our proposals."

Michael Adenmosum, regional development executive for Sainsbury's, said: "We are very excited to have received such an overwhelming and positive response from the local community.

"The comments we received have helped us to fine tune our plans and gain a better understanding of the shopping needs of Whitchurch residents.

"Many respondents have stated that increased local choice and competition are the reasons why they are in favour of the proposals."

Meanwhile, Tesco intends to build a new store and petrol station at Edgeley Park in a scheme that could create work for about 300 people.

The Tesco plan involves the redevelopment of Whitchurch Rugby and Hockey Club but no planning application has so far been submitted.

By Tom Johannsen