New proposals have been submitted for a £13million superstore at Felixstowe which could create around 200 jobs.

Cranford Developments has submitted the scheme for the 20,000sq ft store, filling station and 164-space car park at Haven Exchange, off the Dock Gate One roundabout, because no progress has been made on plans for an already-agreed supermarket in the town centre.

Last year, the company was refused consent for an Asda store on the 4.6-acre site at the end of the A14.

Suffolk Coastal councillors were sympathetic and liked the idea of an extra filling station to help drive down prices at the town’s two other garages.

However, they felt Felixstowe needed only one new store – and opted instead for a scheme put forward by Albourne Property for a 30,000sq ft project on land next to the railway station.

However, eleven months on, no work has started and no store operator has been announced for the Railway Approach scheme.

Simply Planning, agents for Cranford Developments, said in a report submiited with the planning application: “In the meantime, the need for a new foodstore in Felixstowe, which has long been recognised, continues and, if anything, is all the more pressing.

“This is because residents of the town are continuing to leave Felixstowe for their main food shopping and this is only likely to increase.

“New stores have been developed on the Ipswich fringe (for example, the John Lewis/Waitrose development at Futura Park) and these new stores, together with improvements in the existing stores can only serve to exert increasing pressure on food shopping purchases by residents of the town.

“There are acknowledged signs of recovery in the economy with people feeling more secure and with increasing disposable incomes. Therefore, spending on food and other shopping is likely to increase as the years progress.

“Significant growth is now coming on stream in Felixstowe which will increase the demand for improved food shopping.

“This includes both new housing development and employment development. Further growth is planned. All of that new growth will lead to an increased demand for food shopping facilities.”

Suffolk Coastal planning officers are examining the detail of the proposals.