Councillors and members of the public slammed a presentation from Sainsbury’s that aimed to give advice on how to improve the town.

Developers for the supermarket attended a town planning meeting on Tuesday with the aim of giving feedback on recent Section 106 consultation.

That asked people what contributions they would expect if plans for the proposed store on the Nurden garden centre site were approved by Wiltshire Council.

Independent consultant Zeteorbids highlighted various ways to improve and clean up the town, including heritage trails and the removal of stickers, grafitti and litter.

Councillors and members of the public, many of whom attended a recent four-day workshop run by the Prince’s Foundation looking at how to improve the town’s chances through the government’s Localism Bill, dismissed the presentation.

“I have to say that, with apologies, none of what you have said is new,” said town councillor Aimee Frankham.

“I would expect that with Sainsbury’s being as big as they are, they would have produced something innovative, something new.

“What you have produced, given that we are going through front runner status, is patronising.”

One member of the public said: “I am actually quite shocked that we are being talked to in the manner that we are, having spent three-and-a-half days doing superb work with the Prince’s Foundation; the level of expertise and advice they gave us is not comparable.”

Bruno Moore, town planning lead for Sainsbury’s, said: “It is important the community tells us what Malmesbury needs – not for Sainsbury’s to work in isolation.

“Only through consulting with local people and community representatives can a Section 106 package be developed, adopting local ideas, which is right for this historic town.”

During the meeting, town councillors were also called on to defend their decision to allow the presentation from Sainsbury’s to go ahead, two months after turning the supermarket application down.

One member of the public said: “I think you are sending the wrong message. You have said ‘no’ to it already.”