Supermarket chain Aldi wants to open four new stores in Suffolk - and is searching for suitable sites.

The company has identified Felixstowe, Saxmundham, Sudbury and Ipswich as places it wants to open new shops.

Aldi is the UK’s fifth largest supermarket chain and has been on an expansion drive in recent years, opening around one new store a week on average to meet demand from new customers.

It has more than 900 stores across the UK, and is looking for freehold town-centre or edge-of-centre sites suitable for development.

It says each site should be around 1.5 acres and able to accommodate a 20,000 sq ft store with around 100 parking spaces, ideally on a prominent main road and with good visibility and access.

Neither Felixstowe or Saxmundham has an Aldi at present.

Felixstowe has two Lidl stores less than a mile apart, and plans for a Tesco in Walton High Street were rejected. The resort also has outstanding permission for a supermarket off Station Approach in the town centre, and land is available too where the Routemaster Motel used to stand in Walton Avenue

Ciaran Aldridge, national property director at Aldi UK, said: “We have been investing in Britain for more than 30 years now, but we know that there are still areas that either do not have an Aldi at all, or that need another store to meet customer demand.

“Shoppers are increasingly looking to get unbeatable prices on their weekly shop without compromising on quality. That’s why, more so than ever, we’re keen to explore all opportunities to open new stores across the country.”