AS Tesco prepares to hand over plans for an Ottery St Mary store, rival Sainsbury s is keeping tight-lipped over when it will follow suit.

AS Tesco prepares to hand over plans for an Ottery St Mary store, rival Sainsbury's is keeping tight-lipped over when it will follow suit.

The supermarket giant told the Herald today that it is "absolutely committed" to building a 20,000 sq ft Hind Street store, but only that it is "hopeful" a planning application for it will be submitted "before the end of the year".

Sainsbury's Regional Development Executive, Jamie Baker said: "We're absolutely committed to bringing Sainsbury's to Ottery as soon as we can and believe our proposals will benefit the vitality of the town, particularly since our proposed site is the closest available to the town centre and therefore offers most potential for people to make 'linked trips' between the supermarket and the shops in the town.

"However, designing and delivering a new store, particularly in a small community such as Ottery, is not an overnight process and requires careful thought and discussion with a range of different consultees - not least the local community itself but also the various departments of the Council and other stakeholders.

"We want to ensure we go through the proper channels and take on board all the relevant input so that our planning application, when it is finally submitted, offers the best possible solution for Ottery.

"We're working hard behind the scenes to do this and remain hopeful that our application will be submitted before the end of the year. At that point, it will be for the elected members of the planning committee to compare our proposals against those of Tesco and make a decision based on the respective planning merits of each."

Read more about Ottery's store wars in this week's Ottery Herald.