Marks & Spencer is looking to move into a 20,000sq ft unit at a retail park - more than double the space it had planned to occupy.

East Anglian Daily Times: An artist's impression of Churchmanor Estates proposals for Stane Retail Park, Stanway, which will include an M&S Food Hall, an Aldi supermarket and a B&Q home store. Picture: CHURCHMANOR ESTATESAn artist's impression of Churchmanor Estates proposals for Stane Retail Park, Stanway, which will include an M&S Food Hall, an Aldi supermarket and a B&Q home store. Picture: CHURCHMANOR ESTATES

Developer Churchmanor Estates has been granted planning consent for the retail development opposite Sainsbury's at the Stane Retail Park in Stanway.

But it has now submitted an amendment to that planning permission to allow Marks & Spencer to move its new food hall from a 11,800sq ft unit to a much larger 20,000sq ft store in the multi-million pound out-of-town shopping development.

Already Stane Park includes a massive 80,000 sq ft new B&Q home store, together with an Aldi supermarket, with the M&S Food Hall and five other retail units

Stephen Clark, of Churchmanor, said: "I am pleased that Marks & Spencer has decided to take more space at Stane Retail Park and the enlarged unit size is very much now the trend with M&S Food Hall units. We feel confident that this will enhance the success of the retail park, and provide an improved shopping experience for the residents of Stanway."

Robert Morray, head of property planning at M&S, said: "We've been serving customers in Colchester town centre for over a hundred years and we're really pleased to be able to improve our offering in the area with an enlarged Food Hall at Stane Park. Our new store will serve the residents of Stanway the very best of M&S food and drink and we look forward to updating the community as plans for the store progress".

This second phase of Stane Park is in addition to Stane Leisure Park where there is the Princess Charlotte pub, Nandos, KFC and Starbucks