SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has confirmed its interest in opening a new store in the heart of New Addington.

The retailer this week confirmed it would look into the possibility of a superstore on Central Parade – reviving hopes previously dashed in 2009.

Then, an £80 million plan to bring Tesco to the area was scuppered after land in Central Parade was designated as a village green.

But new regeneration plans for the parade, reported by the Advertiser earlier this month, include space for a supermarket.

Tesco bosses this week said that, should an opportunity arise, it would be happy to take up the space and build a new store on the land.

Tony Fletcher, who deals with new store construction across the country for the chain, said: "We remain really interested in the possibility.

"We haven't got anything on the go yet and there are no active plans at the moment.

"We do not know what is going on with the land, so we can't start anything now."

Tesco had agreed to take over green space on Central Parade four years ago, but the deal fell through when resident Michael Fuller made an application for the land to be classed as a village green, which was accepted by an independent inspector.

Another application was recently put in by Mr Fuller for the pavements and car park to be classified as a village green as well, but this would mean no development could ever be carried out on Central Parade.

Mr Fletcher said: "It is a shame because the area is in desperate need of investment and development.

"We were interested before but the situation meant we couldn't. We wanted to come into New Addington but what can we do?"

The consultation period for the new village green application closed last week, with 159 objections registered and just two submissions in favour.

Mr Fletcher confirmed that, should Tesco come to the area, it would be with a superstore, not an "Express" convenience store.

The council's plans, currently on display in the Octagon, also include completely rebuilding the leisure centre, and a revamp and extension of the ACA.