store could be the final nail in the coffin for ailing High Street

Tesco faces another battle in East Lothian. Just a week after Britain’s biggest supermarket was controversially given the green light to build a store in North Berwick, community leaders in Musselburgh have expressed concerns over the proposed new Tesco’s in their town. Musselburgh Community Council members were shocked to discover at their meeting on Tuesday that the new Tesco store would be twice the size of the existing store. Community council members fear the massive Inveresk Road store could be the final nail in the coffin for ailing High Street businesses which have struggled to compete with the nearby Fort Kinnaird shopping complex. Vice-chairman Kenny Stitt complained about the diminished retail offer on the High Street. “You can’t buy a pair of shoes on the High Street and the Co-op is lying empty,” he said. “There has never been so many empty shops in the High Street. Do we need a store this size in Musselburgh? Tesco already has a big hold on the market and what are they giving back to the community? The economic situation in Musselburgh has got to be looked at.”