10-year fight for store is on again

A long-running battle to build a supermarket in the centre of Wolverhampton took another turn today – and again delayed any prospect of work starting.

Store giant Sainsbury's announced it had won permission to take its battle with Tesco over land off the city's Ring Road to the highest court in the country.

The stores have been battling for more than a decade over the right to build a multi-million pound retail and homes development in Raglan Street, Graiseley.

Sainsbury's has already lost two High Court showdowns in its bid to overturn Wolverhampton City Council's ruling that it should hand over its 86 per cent share of the site to its main competitor.

Now, it has been granted permission to take its fight to the Supreme Court.

Sue Bailey, spokeswoman for Sainsbury's, said: "I can confirm that we have been granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court."

Lawyers for Sainsbury's have said Wolverhampton Council had acted "unlawfully" when it backed Tesco's bid.