...council staff sat down with the senior crew at Tesco to put forward their case. ‘We told the management we would much rather have a development which fitted into our strategic plan.’
One day later, plans for Mereham were thrown out by the secretary of state.

The Cambridgeshire CC cabinet member for growth, Matt Bradney, described the two decisions as ‘the final death knell for attempts by developers to force through schemes that aren’t needed or wanted’.

Ministers recently delayed the publication of the shortlist of "up to 10" eco-towns from October to early next year, saying more time was needed to consider the submissions.

Yesterday's announcement means the list of 16 applicants announced in April is down to 12.

Local councillor Julie Redfern, chairman of Stop Hanley Grange, said: "We are delighted that Tesco has seen sense and this is a victory for local democracy.

'Although Tesco now talks about the possibility of going through the proper planning channels, let's not forget that a proposal for a new town at Hinxton was made a few years ago and never made it through the planning process because the location is completely inappropriate.'