PLANS for a large Tesco supermarket in Calne are to remain in place, despite the closure of some stores and the shelving of plans for a store in Royal Wootton Bassett.

The proposals, which were approved by Wiltshire Council in November 2013, are for a superstore in Beversbrook Road, at the junction with Oxford Road.

Last week Tesco withdrew plans to build a store west of Marsh Farm Hotel, Royal Wootton Bassett, last Thursday at the same time it said 43 stores would close across the country in the face of diminishing profit margins. 

But chief executive officer Dave Lewis said: “We’ve carefully reviewed our planned new store developments across the country and it remains our intention to open our planned store in Calne.

“We continue to believe that the store will provide a valued service to the local community. The new store will provide a great shopping experience, as well as bringing new jobs and investment to the area.”

Peter Vujakovic, Calne Chamber of Commerce president, welcomed the decision which he felt was influenced by the scheduled opening of the £230m military training college at Lyneham early in 2016. 

He said: “I think it’s needed, because of Lyneham and the amount of new people coming to Lyneham – about 2,000 people on the new site that’s only a few miles away.

“There are lots of positives, I think, that are coming out of this. In the planning [application], there was a community building, so it gives that extra reason for people to come in.”