HUNDREDS of people living and working in a north Suffolk town have voiced their concerns about the impact a proposed Tesco supermarket would have on the area.

Mark Lord

HUNDREDS of people living and working in a north Suffolk town have voiced their concerns about the impact a proposed Tesco supermarket would have on the area.

Residents and shoppers in Halesworth have been adding their signatures to a petition which is available in many shops and businesses.

The EADT revealed earlier this year that Tesco is interested in creating a new store in the town and the retail giant has confirmed it will be holding a public exhibition to display its plans for the site it owns off The Thoroughfare and the land it wants to develop in Angel Link.

Irene Rust, shop assistant at the Farmhouse Bakery, said hundreds of people had been coming in to sign the petition.

“We have had lots of people coming into the shop, who would not normally come in, specifically to sign the petition,” she said.

It is expected that the petitions will be sent to Waveney District Council to show the level of opposition in the town against the proposals.

Nick Gellatly, Tesco's regional corporate affairs manager, said that future uses of the town centre site are currently dependent on the result of a flood risk assessment.

He said: “There is still nothing firmer yet on The Thoroughfare site as we await the report from the Environment Agency on the flood risk across the entire site. That will have some impact on what uses the site can be put to. Because of this, it looks like the public exhibition will be towards the end of September.”

He said dates for the exhibition would be published as soon as the assessment is returned.