Tesco wins bid for longer opening hours at proposed new Express store

Tesco has won its bid for longer opening hours when its proposed new Express store opens in Newbridge.

The supermarket giant is currently redeveloping the former Methodist Church in Bridge Street.

Once completed, the store will be allowed to open from 6am to 11pm daily – a move the firm’s planning agent said would reflect a “greater demand for round the clock availability of grocery goods”.

The agent, Daniel Botten of ROK Planning Ltd, added the longer opening hours would “significantly improve the customer experience and the overall operation of the proposed convenience store”, as well as “providing local residents with easy access to grocery goods throughout the day”.

Other shops in Newbridge opened at similar times, he added.

The application drew two objections, which focused on noise and activity.

As a result, Caerphilly County Borough Council officers agreed to grant the hours extension provided a 1.8 metre “acoustic screen” is put up along the site’s western boundary.