Further expansion of out-of-town supermarkets in Shrewsbury should be stopped to prevent independent traders being damaged, a major new report has claimed.

More than 90 per cent of residents have backed plans for a multi-million pound Waitrose supermarket in Shrewsbury, new figures revealed today.

Dozens of people are expected to attend a public meeting tomorrow over £40 million plans to create a Waitrose supermarket, garden centre and shopping parade in Shrewsbury.

This is the first glimpse at how a £40 million retail development including a new Waitrose supermarket and garden centre will look in Shrewsbury.

The daughter of TV gardener Percy Thrower today said plans for a new £40 million retail development on the site of her late’s father garden centre in Shrewsbury will transform the area into a tourism hotspot.

A multi-million pound Waitrose supermarket could be built in Shrewsbury under plans to snap up land at a garden centre.

Upmarket retailer Waitrose opened its doors in Shrewsbury this morning.