Supermarket giant Morrisons has confirmed its intention to submit a planning application for a new food store on the site of the former Clares Merchandising factory on East Somerset Way, on the edge of Wells city centre.

The company is hoping to get its application to Mendip District Council before the two applications for Sainsbury's and Waitrose are considered in mid-March

Morrisons is in the process of designing a detailed mixed-use scheme for the site off the A371, which will include a city centre Park and Walk facility as well as residential development and potentially a residential care home or office building, in addition to the new food store and a petrol filling station.

Speaking on behalf of Morrisons, development surveyor Mark Thompson said: "We believe that of the available sites in the town, the Clares site is by far the best location for a new food store for Wells. Moreover, this site is large enough to accommodate a mixed-use scheme that will bring wider benefits to the city, in addition to the Morrisons store. Regular visitors to the city will be well aware that there is a shortage of parking in the centre of Wells. Within our scheme we are proposing to include a Park and Walk facility – an additional city centre car park with more than 80 spaces. This is in addition to the proposed food store car park with more than 320 spaces.

"We aim to submit our planning application by the first week of March and will follow with a public exhibition before Easter.

"While the other food store applications are further advanced, we hope local residents and their elected representatives will wish to consider our proposal before making a final decision about any of the proposed new food store schemes on offer."

Mr Thompson concluded: "We are working as quickly as we can to put this comprehensive planning application together and will issue more information as soon as we are able, including confirmed dates for our public exhibition. In the meantime, I can confirm that the store we propose will be purposely designed for Wells and will include Morrisons full range of goods and services, including our Market Street format, which concentrates on good quality fresh food, much of it prepared in store on a daily basis, setting us apart from our competitors."