Plans for a £40m Tesco store in Nottingham are hanging in the balance after council officers advised against approving it planning permission.

A council report said the plans for a new 90,000 sq ft store in the Eastside Regeneration Zone were inconsistent with the approved masterplan for the so-called Island site. 

Nottingham already has 25 Tesco stores in the area, making it one of the most Tesco-dominated towns in the UK based on population per store. The city council also approved nine applications from the big four in the two years to November 1 - the seventh highest approval rate of all of the UK’s local authorities. 

The vision for the Island site, which is designed to be an extension to the city centre, includes a mix of office, residential and retail development evenly spread throughout the area. The Tesco application would result in a single solid block being developed to the north of the site, placing all of the retail in one location. This was one of the reasons the application was recommended for refusal.

Campaign group ‘No Tesco Eastside’ said the application would threaten the local retail environment, have a detrimental increase on traffic, and impact residents’ social and economic well being. It also said Tesco did not consult adequately.

The city council will consider the application on May 25.

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