A LOW-COST supermarket could be built in Ellesmere Port town centre.

Aldi Stores Ltd has submitted an official planning application to the borough council.

It proposes to build a new store with associated parking, servicing, access and landscaping on a site off Grange Road - near the new Asda supermarket.

Following consultation, the scheme will go to the borough's planning committee which will make a decision some time in the next few months.

Based in Atherstone in the West Midlands, Aldi is run by the German company Hiller gmbh and is famous for its low-cost prices and cheap own-brand goods.

It operates more than 5,000 stores around the world, including local ones in Bumpers Lane, Chester; Bebington; Heswall; Birkenhead; Runcorn; and across Liverpool.

If the application was successful, it would join other supermarket retailers already present in Ellesmere Port, including Asda, Kwik Save, Iceland, Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Earlier this year, Morrisons withdrew an application for a huge store near West Cheshire College in Regent Street, and submitted alternative plans for a smaller one.

But it still did not find favour with borough planners, who rejected it in a 5-4 vote.

And on a 7-2 vote, they also threw out a related plan to knock down the existing Safeway store in Whitby, which Morrisons owns, and replace it with 61 homes.

Meanwhile, the new £25mn Asda super-centre off McGarva Way in the town centre, which replaces the old Asda nearby, is nearing completion.

* The Aldi application was received by the council on July 17 and is currently subject to public consultation. All comments must be received by August 10. Residents' views can be e-mailed to the planning office at planning.admin@ epnbc.gov.uk

All e-mails must include the person's name and address, and quote the application number P/2006/103/CE/490.

You can also contact your local councillor, who can help you put forward your views. To speak at the eventual planning meeting, call planning chief Mike Stelfox on 0151 356 6683.