Tesco to decide next move over Tenbury Wells store bid

Retail giant Tesco today revealed it could be up to a month before it decides its next step after losing a bid for a new store on the south Shropshire border.

More than 80 people attended a meeting when the plans for the supermarket on Tenbury Wells' cattle market was thrown out.

Sophie Akokhia, regional corporate affairs manager for Tesco, said today there would be a meeting to discuss the next steps on Friday, but that it could be up to a month before a further decision was made.

She said the company could well commission reports before deciding what to do next.

She added: "We are committed to updating the local community as and when we can and to maintaining dialogue with people we've been communicating with."

The plans have divided opinion in Tenbury with some residents for and some against. However, the majority at last week's meeting appeared strongly opposed to the scheme.

Chris Dell, chairman of the Tenbury and District Museum Society, said today he would be happy for Tesco's to re-submit an application, but warned it would need to feature a smaller store and take into consideration the heritage of the site.

He said: "There is an old heritage building on the site that dates back to about 1871 and Tesco will need to try and find a way of incorporating it into their plans if they wish to come back with a new bid. They will also need to think about creating a smaller store because one of the issues of those opposed to it was an increase in traffic.

"I am not against Tesco's creating a store there. I think everyone is in agreement the area needs re-developing, but we must preserve the conservation of the area."