STORE Wars has been declared in Congleton with yet another supermarket chain unveiling plans to open in the town.

Morrison has pinpointed land off West Street for its 82nd store.

The chain's bid to open in Congleton ends a decade-long interest in the town, and follows moves by rivals Sainsbury and Tesco to develop stores near the shopping centre.

Both Morrison and Sainsbury have targeted land off West Street for a new store, while Tesco is considering whether to fight planning refusal for a store alongside the Clayton By-pass.

Morrison bosses are looking to persuade West Street landowners to sell to them, and are approaching Congleton Tennis Club, John Boon Engineering and British Telecom in the hope of winning them over.

Tennis club members agreed in May to talks with developers on the possible sale of the club, which is seen as the key to the creation of a supermarket.

Morrison has also been talking to the borough council about the sale of land at the West Street car park.

"We have had discussions with the council and contacted other landowners in the West Street area, including the tennis club and John Boon Engineering, to establish whether they would be interested in the principle of disposing of their properties,'' said Morrison development director Chris Evenson.

"We have been looking at Congleton for 10 years, and a number of opportunities arose which gave us confidence a site could be assembled in the town centre."

Congleton had the potential for another large supermarket, he added, and it would be a logical step to open in the town to link up with Morrison stores to the west in Winsford and south in Stoke-on-Trent. Borough environment services chairman David Lloyd-Griffiths said Morrison and Sainsbury had approached the council to clarify planning policies for the West Street area, which was zoned for commercial and retail uses.

BT confirmed it was talking to agents for two major food stores about the possible sale of its telephone exchange in West Street, but the tennis club would not comment on the Morrison bid.

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