TESCO has unveiled plans for a £32million store in the centre of Accrington.

The company, which already operates a Tesco Metro shop in the town, hopes to create 450 jobs at the store off Eagle Street.

Bosses have submitted a planning application to Hyndburn Council to build an 88,000 square feet supermarket at the disused former SkillCentre site near Cannon Street.

A spokesman for Tesco said their research has shown that Hyndburn residents were spending £100million year in supermarkets outside of the borough.

The spokesman said: "In Accrington there is some feeling that a lot of people travel out of town to do their shopping.

"This new store would help bring it back into the town."

Manchester-based Property Alliance Group, which has submitted the planning application with Tesco, say the project would provide the biggest single investment in Accrington in the last five years.

A public consultation on the plans took place last summer and Tesco said the response from residents had been "90 per cent in approval".

If approved, construction work on the 8,000 square metre store would begin later this year and be completed by the start of next year. It would be classed as a medium-sized store and could be raised and built on stilts with some parking underneath.

Around 600 parking spaces would be provided.

If built, the Accrington store would be twice the size of the proposed Tesco in Queen Street, Great Harwood, which has been surrounded by controversy.

Traders there have hit out at the plans amid fears that a superstore would have a detrimental affect on business. But work to build the store in Great Harwood is set to begin this year.

A planning application is expected to be decided by Hyndburn Council in the next few weeks. Ian Smith, president of Hyndburn Chamber of Trade, said many shopkeepers in Accrington were frightened that the supermarket would kill off' the small businesses in the town.

Mr Smith, who runs a butchers in Accrington Market Hall, said: "For small businesses this is a worrying time.

"We know that if that supermarket opens there will be a lot of people who shop there rather than in the smaller shops in Accrington.

"The other worry is the traffic problems. I can't imagine how the area will cope with delivery wagons and an increase in vehicles."