Tesco plans 'would take £2.7m out of Shrewsbury town centre'

Tesco's plans to increase the size of its Extra store in Shrewsbury by a third would result in £2.7 million in trade being lost from the town centre each year, it has been claimed.

New figures also claim the extension to the store in Harlescott is expected to result in an extra £5.4 million in sales of non-food goods at the supermarket.

However, it is also anticipated there will be a loss of nearly £3 million in trade from the town centre.

The figures have been provided by Indigo Public Affairs Ltd, which has been hired by Tesco to carry out a public consultation over its plans, and have been revealed to town councillors at a meeting.

Traders in Shrewsbury today claimed the amount was "significant" and said it would cripple retailers in the river loop.

Councillor Peter Nutting, leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, who also runs a sports shop in the town, said: "I think it will have a significant impact on the town and needs to be considered as part of the total application. I think we have to be careful about allowing extensions to supermarkets on the edge of town."

John Hall, from the Shop in the Loop group, said he believed the plans should be refused. He said: "I think the amount is significant and this is on top of everything else that Tesco is taking out of the town centre."

Sophie Akokhia, corporate affairs manager at Tesco, said: "There were outline discussions about the value of non-food trade the extended store might achieve at the pre-application meeting with the town council's planning committee.

"However, it is too early at this stage to be specific about an accurate forecast for that figure as we are still finalising plans for the layout of the store and working through our detailed retail impact study."