Tesco and the Squirrel Inn at Stourport

Once again Tesco puts the moves on Stourport this time over the river and in Areley Kings, this time with a bid to turn the old Squirrel Inn into a Tesco Express.To some this may seem a little odd given the hold-up with the new store that, rumour has it, will finally be built and ready by September this year. However this isn't odd in the slightest given the proximity of a Londis, a newsagents, and a pharmacy.

Despite the assurances of the spokesman that "There is every reason to believe we will co-exist and complement the existing independent traders, as we do in villages and small towns across the country." this isn't why they're planning a store in this location.

This isn't a case of Tesco serving the needs of a community, nor offering 'competition'. They're not taking a risk with opening a brand-new store in an area not served by one they're trying to take over an existing market. They can see that there already exists enough of a clientèle to support three stores and they just want to poach them.

I'm sure they'll give assurances that deliveries won't cause a problem, as they did at that Kidderminster branch then parked a lorry in the street. It also won't affect any other of the Tesco stores despite, again rumour, that some staff already have been handed redundancy notices.

It's going to cause a mass of trouble in terms of car-parking, but there is a simple solution if it does get built - don't shop there.