Tesco in legal threat over Whitchurch Sainsbury's approval

A legal challenge could be launched by Tesco to try to stop rival Sainsbury's building a store in Whitchurch, after plans were approved by Shropshire Council.

Plans for a store off London Road were given the go-ahead yesterday to the delight of residents who turned up waving carrier bags in support of the scheme.

But Tesco warned Sainsbury's could face a legal challenge if it could be shown that other potential sites had not been considered.

The claims were made in a statement read to the north planning committee.

The statement from Patrick Clarkson QC said: "If this is not properly done, then there is the potential for legal challenge on the basis of failure to take into account highly relevant matters. The council will want to ensure there is no appearance of short cut taken in the decision on the London Road site."

After the meeting, Sainsbury's executive Michael Adenmosun said: "We haven't seen the legal letter from Tesco to the council, but it's not in our power to determine whether legal challenges will or will not happen."

Tesco, which already has a town centre store at White Lion Meadow, has applied for permission to revamp that store and build a bigger one at Edgeley Park.

Councillor Peggy Mullock, for Whitchurch North, said: "The vast majority of people in Whitchurch welcome this with open arms."

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