Tesco denies it is targeting pub sites

Supermarket giant Tesco has denied it is deliberately targeting pub sites to convert into stores.

A Mail on Sunday ​ story claimed the supermarket chain has lodged "hundreds" of planning applications to cash in on failing pubs and rival shops.

The paper said it had identified 10 pubs that the group planned to convert into Tesco shops.

But a Tesco spokesman denied it was focusing just on pubs with planning applications. "To say it's targeted is wrong," he said. "We look at sites on merit. There are a few applications on pub sites as well as others on retail premises.

"If you consider the amount of sites we are looking at it's not a high number."

It has been suggested that pubs are particularly attractive to Tesco because they are already licensed to sell food and alcohol so do not require an application to councils for a change of use.

Despite moves by Tesco to play down the story, a petition has already been lodged on the 10 Downing Street website calling for the company to be stopped from converting pubs into stores.

Nick Bish, chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, said it would add "insult to injury" if pubs were being turned into Tesco stores. "If a site is good enough for Tesco, why is it not good enough for another pub operator?" he said.

"We should be trying all options, including free-of-tie arrangements, before a pub is lost."