TESCO'S bid to build Bridgwater's biggest supermarket could spark a war of the stores in the town.

Days after Tesco's £11million bid for a massive Extra store on the Northgate site was accepted, Sainsbury's resubmitted plans, originally approved in 2005, to expand its supermarket at The Clink.

Morrisons also told the Mercury it has plans to upgrade its supermarket in Broadway while Asda has been tipped to follow suit with its store in East Quay.

David McElhannan, Sainsbury's development executive, said: “Our store in Bridgwater is very popular so it is natural that we will wish to extend it at some point in the future to enhance our offering to customers.”

Morrisons' plans include a “bigger and better” range of fresh and frozen foods and new refrigeration and workspaces for butchers, bakers and fishmongers.

Doug Bamsey, Sedgemoor District Council's corporate director for regeneration, said: “A couple of years ago Asda consulted about a new mezzanine floor and re-jigging its car park and bought the former medical centre but never implemented its plans.

“Retailers always need to go forward, invest and change and Bridgwater should be more competitive.”

However, Julian Taylor, district councillor for Eastover, warned the brewing battle could have a “detrimental” effect on smaller, independent traders.

WHERE will you be shopping if the new Tesco Extra is built? Let us know by taking part in our phone/text vote.

BY PHONE: Call 09012210069 for Tesco, 09012210070 for Asda, 09012210071 for Sainsbury's, 09012210072 for Morrisons and 09012210073 for another supermarket.

BY TEXT: Send your text message to 80360, with the message SHOP, then a space, followed by 0069 for Tesco, 0070 for Asda, 0071 for Sainsbury's, 0072 for Morrisons and 0073 for another.

Calls cost no more than 26p per call from a BT landline. Calls from mobiles and some other networks may cost more. Texts cost 25p plus your normal operator text charge. Lines close at midnight on Monday. See next week's Mercury for the result.

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