Television presenter and local resident Kevin McCloud has publicly backed a campaign in the town to stop a large supermarket being built on the land at Saxonvale.

The Channel 4 Grand Designs presenter will be a speaker tonight at a public meeting to discuss the future of the derelict site.

London-based property developers St James Investments hope to build a large supermarket on the land.

The news was announced in the Somerset Standard in October 2010 and since then there have been a number of public meetings held protesting against the plans.

Luke Wilde, chairman of the campaign group against the supermarket, said: "It's a critical point in our campaign.

"We understand that St James Investments will be taking an exclusivity agreement for part of the land in the next few days.

"Things could now start to move very quickly and it's time for the community to put down a marker.

"We very much welcome Kevin's experience and input and hope that as many as possible can attend."

At the event the campaign group will present a community manifesto for Saxonvale.

This will combine public feedback from previous meetings held at the Cheese and Grain with thoughts and views shared in local press, social media and email correspondence.

Mr Wilde added: "We're putting out a clear message that this community cares about its future and wants to have an active say in it.

"Frome is loved for its independence and that is its point of difference from so many other towns.

"If we want a development which is in character with the rest of Frome, we need a big turn out on the night to show the developers we will put up a fight."

In a recent letter to the Somerset Standard, Kevin expressed his views on the redevelopment of the site.

He wrote: "We will not create distinctive local towns that thrive economically and are a pleasure to live in if we make them all identikit places devoid of local businesses.

"If you want to see what happens when Tesco congregate big retail brands on one of their sites in a market town, take a ride to Shepton Mallet where the life has been sucked out of the town centre.

"The development of the Saxonvale site near the centre of Frome is a great opportunity which will not arise again in our lifetimes and it's an opportunity which should be given to local people."

The Saxonvale development planned by St James Investments includes a supermarket with a footprint of 40,000 square feet, plus a further 40,000 square feet of retail space and 500 car parking spaces.

The meeting will be held at Rook Lane Chapel from 7.30pm this evening.