9:39am Friday 19th March 2010
By Lewis Cowen
Marlborough shoppers are furious that their hopes of a budget supermarket in the town have been put on hold after a planning application from Tesco was deferred.
An application for a 15,000 sq ft store at Marlborough Business Park for Tesco was due to be decided at last night's meeting of Wiltshire Council's eastern planning committee in Devizes.
Lisa Farrell, founder of Marlborough Matters, which has campaigned for Tesco to come to the town, said people in the area were furious about the delay.
She said: "I am very angry. Sainsbury's waited until just a few days before the Tesco application was to be considered before they put in their own application.
"We have been in negotiation for over a year with Tesco. Where was Sainsbury's all that time?
"I have spoken to my supporters and given them the choice between Tesco and Sainsbury's and they have all said they want Tesco.
"We don't want to harm Waitrose. Tesco wouldn't harm Waitrose's business, but Sainsbury's might."
Sainsbury's has applied for outline planning permission to build a supermarket almost exactly the same size as that proposed by Tesco on the Wiltshire Council depot on Salisbury Road - just feet away from Tesco's proposed site.
Sainsbury's do not at the moment own the land.
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