Tesco revamp on hold as plans are reviewed

The overhaul of a supermarket creating scores of new jobs is on hold after bosses admitted that there is no start date for the scheme.

Tesco says it is committed to the investment but it cannot confirm when the work will get under way.

It was initially anticipated the revamp of the store in Brownhills would get under way this spring. The nearby Ravenscourt Shopping Centre is due to be demolished as part of the project, and the remaining traders say that they are still not sure when they will have to move out.

The scheme includes a rebuild and expansion of the Silver Street store and two shop units for other retail or cafe-type use.

The plans have been in the pipeline for a number of years and planning approval with the creation of 150 jobs was granted 18 months ago but remains on hold.

Doreen Gent, manageress of the Acropolis coffee house in Ravenscourt Shopping Centre, said: "We have been left in limbo and don't know what is happening.

"No-one has been telling us anything and we are struggling to survive."

Tesco spokesman Jonathan Simpson said consent for the regeneration scheme is in place and they are finalising this year's work plan. "At the moment we are just putting our plans together," he added.

"We are reviewing our development programme all the time. We are committed to investing in the region."

A new-look market pitch closer to High Street is eventually due to be created under the plans. It comes after the collapse of the relaunched Brownhills Market last summer.

The two-days-a-week event was scrapped nine months after it returned through private operators LSD Promotions who blamed a lack of traders and shoppers.

The project has faced delays throughout and had to be redrawn ahead of getting planning permission.