A RIVAL supermarket is urging planners to hold fire on a Tesco scheme so that it can catch up with a plan of its own.

ASDA will ask North Dorset District Council's development control committee to defer a decision on Tesco's proposal for an extension at its Blandford store.

But planning officer Hannah Smith is recommending that members approve the Tesco application, which is listed for the committee's meeting on Tuesday.

The scheme includes a cafe and more car parking spaces.

In a report to committee members, she states that an initial assessment had been carried out by a retail consultant that also looked at a plan lodged in December by ASDA for a new store as part of a business park development on the northern edge of Blandford.

The findings suggested that the ASDA plan off Shaftesbury Lane would lead to "substantially greater levels of impact on the town centre compared to the Tesco proposal".

Although measures could reduce the retail impact the scheme at present would "result in significant harm to the vitality and viability of Blandford town centre".

The officer recommends approval of the Tesco plan with conditions including £357,000 towards improvements within Blandford town centre and £100,000 for shopfront enhancements and vacant property improvements in the town.

An ASDA spokeswoman said the company was in discussions with the council and county highways on elements of its plan and expected the application to be ready in April.

She said: "The decision on which planning application should be allowed to proceed is an important one for Blandford.

"We strongly believe that the development control committee should be afforded the opportunity to compare all aspects of each application before it reaches a decision.

"We will therefore be asking members to defer a decision on the Tesco application until such time as both the ASDA and Tesco proposals can be heard together."

Dee Adcock