Legal bid to stop Telford town centre Asda fails

A last-ditch legal bid to stop Asda building a new store in Telford town centre has failed in the Supreme Court, it emerged this afternoon.

Hark Area, the owners of Telford Shopping Centre, had tried to block Asda's plans to move out of the centre and into a purpose-built store on the site of Telford & Wrekin Council's civic offices nearby.

But the Supreme Court in London has ruled in favour of the borough council's planning department, which approved the plans, and has refused permission for Hark Area, which has its headquarters in London, to appeal.

The Supreme Court also awarded costs to the council, to be paid by Hark Area, which have yet to be agreed.

The decision now paves the way for the development to move forward. Richard Partington, the council's managing director, today said: "We were always confident that our planning decisions had been legally sound and correctly carried out."

No-one from Hark Area was today available for comment. But Asda's property communications manager Oliver Jones welcomed the decision.