The Tesco superstore in Dunmow could expand by nearly a quarter to meet in-store overcrowding and growth in the town’s population.

Tesco has lodged an application with Uttelsford District Council (UDC) to build a single story extension to provide extra space for the sales floor and nine extra car parking spaces.

The store, in Stortford Road, is currently 4,374 square metres but Tesco wants to increase this by 1,054sqm. The extension would be comprised of a 790 square metre sales area, with the majority of this for the sale of convenience goods and a sizeable amount of comparison goods and 264 square metres for a warehouse and other back of house space.

A design and access statement, submitted to the council, lays out the reasons for the proposals.

The document reads: "The store suffers from overcrowding and it can be very difficult to manage conditions on the sales floor so that the store functions optimally."

"The shortage of space means that the store lacks enough shelf space to stock the full range of lines the customers want."

In December 2018, the consultants spoke to the store manager, who, according to planning documents, told them: "The main customer feedback is that the width and range of goods is not big enough. This means that we lose a lot of trade to stores outside the area, including Chelmsford and Bishop's Stortford.

The design and access statement also goes on to explain: "Significant growth in the population of the area served by the store has meant that it has become increasingly busy. It is clear the current store is not large enough for its current catchment and with further residential development in and around Great Dunmow in the pipeline these issues only stand to worsen."

According to designs, the extension would be built at the back of the store.