A SUPERMARKET manager fears it will be difficult to compete if a national chain opens a store in a former pub nearby.

In 2014 Greene King sold The Saxton Arms in Saxton Road, Abingdon, to Hawthorn Leisure and it did not reopen. Now a planning application has been submitted to turn it into a convenience store.

But Reg Parshad, who runs Reynolds Supermarket in nearby Reynolds Way, fears the change could harm his business.

Mr Parshad, 60, who has been running the store for 29 years, said: “We will suffer if the pub is turned into a convenience store.

“Our customers are very loyal but we can’t compete with the prices offered by chains.

“This parade of shops is well used by the local community and I think the whole parade would suffer.”

The Ox pub in Oxford Road and the Fitzharris Arms, off Wootton Road, were turned into Tesco Express stores and Abingdon residents feared the arrival of another branch of the supermarket giant might pop up.

But Tesco spokesman James Wiggam said the chain was not behind the Saxton Road application.

Town and county councillor Neil Fawcett said: “I’m not surprised shopkeepers in Reynolds Way are concerned as a convenience store would put their businesses under pressure.

“If it is not Tesco involved here, another major chain could come in with low prices and the effect of that could be to push out the competition.

“ It’s a very useful little parade of shops in Reynolds Way.”

In a letter of objection, Mr Parshad’s son, Rishi Vasudev, said: “I feel strongly that the Saxton Arms is an unsuitable site for the creation of a busy convenience store.”

No one from PLC Architects, agents acting for Hawthorn Leisure, was available for comment.

The planning application has been submitted to Vale of White Horse District Council and a decision is due by December 30.