A NEW budget supermarket is set to be built in Chipping Norton after plans were approved yesterday.

West Oxfordshire District Council approved the proposal to build an Aldi store on the former Highways Depot site at Cromwell Business Park, off Banbury Road.

There were concerns from the Midcounties Co-operative that it could affect trade in the town centre.

Councillor Warwick Robinson said areas like Abingdon and Bicester had suffered from building out-of-town shopping centres. He added: “I fear it could have a negative impact on the vitality and vibrancy on the centre of Chipping Norton.”

But Chipping Norton mayor Mike Tysoe said a poll showed 70 per cent of residents wanted it, adding: “The town needs it.”

The uplands planning committee was accused of being “cowards” by a member of the public after approving plans from Pye Homes to build 58 homes, half of which will be made affordable, near Marlborough School in Shipton Road, Woodstock.

About 1,200 residents had objected to the application. Councillors voted it through after planning officer Phil Shaw warned the council could lose £560,000 in developer funding, to be used to help the secondary school, if the application was lost in an appeal.