A rural Worcestershire town has fought off an application to build a Tesco supermarket on a former cattle market site after fears the development would destroy independent shops.

Planners at Malvern Hills District Council refused the proposal for the supermarket on the site at Tenbury Wells but councillors warned that Tesco would appeal against the decision.

Recent figures have revealed one of the big four supermarket chains gets planning permission for a new store every working day of the year, with at least 576 Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda stores approved across the country over the last two years.

Tesco has had the most stores approved over the last two years at 392, followed by Sainsbury’s 111, Morrisons’ 41 and Asda, with 22.

Andy Stevenson, a campaigner for the Tenbury TesNO group, said: “This is a vindication of the concerns of the 800 or so people who sent in formal planning objections.

‘‘It proves that in this new emerging age of localism, locals and groups really are starting to be listened to,” he said.

Campaigners put forward a number objections about the Tenbury scheme, with councillors eventually voting seven to four to reject the application for four reasons including the design and layout, design of the car park and the amount of traffic.

Mr Stevenson added: “Although as a group Tenbury TesNO are delighted with this result and think it is a victory for common sense we are also aware Tesco may appeal the planning rejection and have the clout and the money as a big organisation to fight a strong corner with their large legal team.”

A spokesman for Birmingham Friends of the Earth said: “Thriving local communities need businesses which have a connection to the area not ones owned by large corporations who take 95 per cent of the turnover out of the local area.

"Environmentally, the larger footprint of supermarkets means that more land is taken, people travel further to get to them, creating more traffic on the roads and encouraging people to buy more than they need.”

A spokesman for Tesco said: “We’re obviously disappointed with the decision but don’t yet know whether we will appeal against the decision. We will have to study the reasons for refusal and then come to a conclusion. We should have a clearer idea in two to three weeks.”