DESPITE the current struggles in the retail market, Ryedale District Council has said that developers remain confident that a supermarket will still be built on Wentworth Street car park in Malton.

The Fitzwilliam Malton Estate announced last month that it was continuing to seek legal action after calls for a Judicial Review on the decision to grant planning permission for the supermarket were rejected.

Although the council has never confirmed that it was definitely Tesco interested in the site, a spokesperson said that the struggles of the supermarket, which announced recently that it would be closing 43 of its stores, would not affect the sites plans.

The spokesperson said: “The purchaser continues to have confidence that there will be demand from operators particularly where there is a proposition which has good commercial potential and is deliverable.

“It has been their strategy, supported by the council, to hold back from any full marketing of the site until the planning position had become clear and free from legal challenges.”

Tesco has suffered numerous blows to its reputation recently, losing its status for low prices – Asda is now six per cent cheaper – and the store also faced legal action from one its biggest suppliers L’Oreal.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Current market conditions are different to those that prevailed when the council entered into the agreement for sale of the land at Wentworth Street, however market conditions will continue to evolve.”