STORE wars has broken out in an Oxfordshire market town after a second major supermarket announced plans to move in.

Waitrose claims its supermarket in Faringdon would create up to 120 jobs and boost existing shops in the town centre.

The retailer wants to build a 15,000-sq ft food store and a car park with more than 140 spaces on land north of Gloucester Street.

Rival Tesco’s plan for a 15,000-sq ft store on the edge of town in Park Road is due to be considered by Vale of White Horse district councillors today.

Planning officers have recommended rejection, saying it would draw customers away from the town centre.

Meanwhile, plans by Budgens’ owner Simon Tiensa to expand his store — the town’s only supermarket — have been approved.

Tesco says its research shows that more than 80 per cent of Faringdon residents travel outside the town to do their main food shop.

Local people will be able to see the new Waitrose plans at a public exhibition in November. Waitrose hopes to submit a planning application by the end of the year and to open by 2012.

Trevor Wynn, who runs the Nut Tree gift shop in Faringdon, said town-centre traders would welcome the Waitrose plans.

“I’m delighted because it will bring more people into town. It’s much better because it’s walking distance to the town centre, whereas Park Road is just too far out.”

Alan Hickmore, chairman of the town council planning committee, said: “My personal view is that I couldn’t care less which of the two retailers comes — we just need one or the other.

“We will have 40 per cent population growth and we can’t carry on with just one supermarket.”

Nigel Keen, Waitrose’s director of development, said they had been looking for a site in Faringdon “for a very long time” and felt they had found the right site. “The Gloucester Street site has been identified as a preferred location for retail development, but, more importantly, will provide us with the opportunity to make a major investment in the area without compromising the town’s residents and traders.”

He said the store would be “appropriate in scale”. “Listening to the needs and the views of the local community is paramount in our approach and we look forward to speaking to local shopkeepers and residents,” he said.

Waitrose has seven stores in Oxfordshire, including one in Headington which opened last year in the former Somerfield. Employees of Waitrose become ‘partners’ in the John Lewis Partnership, entitling them to a share of profits.