A ST ANNES newsagent says he has been offered a shop on the site of the proposed new Safeway store in Ashton Gardens - as long as he doesn't sell newspapers or magazines.

Mark Wright, who owns the Palace news and gift shop on Garden Street, said: "I found out about the new plans when a customer called in with a copy of them.

"I was absolutely gobsmacked. When I asked about new units along the side of the proposed shop, Safeway said they would be for the displaced traders like myself, but I wouldn't be able to sell newspapers or magazines.

"I wouldn't have thought they'd be afraid of competition from a small shop.

"I'm certainly not frightened to compete with them.

"It's a lovely spot I have here. The shop is very busy and we had plans to refurbish.

"But the main shame if the plans go ahead is that people have been coming to this shop for 30 or 40 years - it's a part of their social lives.

"Some of them won't even go into bigger shops in the Square.

"As hard as supermarkets try with their customer service, it's just never personal enough."

Local bowlers are not happy either, despite being given their greens back in the revamped Safeway plan.

Members of the Ashton Gardens and St Annes bowling teams have shown their support for the Save Ashton Gardens (SAG) campaign.

Arthur Nuttall, who has bowled at the gardens for years, said: "If this becomes a car park, how are all of the cars going to get in and out? St Andrews Road North will become a nightmare."

Fellow bowler Derek Mulhearn said: "All parties concerned with St Annes agree on one thing - that St Annes needs reviving in some way.

"But why do we need a superstore built here when the council has money in the bank from the sale of the buses.

"That money could be used to revitalise the town and bits of the park, but is just gaining interest in the bank."

Nancy Whitehead is a member of the Ashton Gardens bowling team and has been a regular visitor to the park for more than 12 years.

She shares the opinion of the other bowlers: "I'm opposed to Safeways taking any part of Ashton Gardens because it simply isn't the council's to sell.

"We meet people from the far north and south here when we bowl. They won't come just to look at a supermarket."

SAG, led by Barbara Pagett, has claimed that the sale of any part of Ashton Gardens would be a direct contradiction to Fylde Borough Council's local plan.

One supporter has also recalled a proposal in 1987 to build a car park on Ashton Gardens, which was turned down after the council accepted Lord Ashton's legacy that the park be used for leisure purposes only.

Safeway was unavailable for comment.

The next meeting of the SAG group will take place at Lytham St Annes High School, Worsley Road, at 7pm on May 18.

There is also a meeting on May 21 at Lowther Pavilion from 7pm where councillors will discuss with the public the principle of selling off part of Ashton Gardens.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.