ASDA is hoping to open a third supermarket in Ipswich, it was revealed today.The American-owned retailing giant already has the Goddard Road Superstore on the edge of the Whitehouse estate.

ASDA is hoping to open a third supermarket in Ipswich, it was revealed today.

The American-owned retailing giant already has the Goddard Road Superstore on the edge of the Whitehouse estate.

And next week it is expected to get planning permission to redevelop the Stoke Park Shopping centre as a new neighbourhood supermarket.

Now it is about to file a detailed planning application to build a supermarket on the former Volvo site off Sandyhill Lane beside the Greenwich estate.

That would see the construction of a new store which would employ up to 400 people, giving them both full and part-time jobs.

It would be slightly larger than that at Stoke Park, and between them the two stores would create about 650 jobs.

The total investment by the company in the two new stores in Ipswich would be about £40 million. Each of the stores would be about two thirds the size of the Goddard Road superstore.

Ipswich council planning chief Mike Smith said: “Planning permission was granted for the Sandyhill Lane site some years ago.

“This is a store of the same size and we are seeing whether the original outline planning permission is still valid. Whatever happens they would have to apply for detailed permission with some improvements to Sandyhill Lane, but there is no major issue.”

The Stoke Park detailed application is due to be discussed by the planning and development committee next Wednesday (Jan 25). It is not expected to encounter major opposition.

The Volvo site has had a chequered history because access problems have prevented previous large-scale development there.

Developer the Beadie Group had offered to build a controversial east bank relief road between the docks and the A14 - but this application does not need that to be built.

Beadie Group director Clive Thompson said: “ASDA is a benchmark retailer and their decision to come to this location in Ipswich is a giant vote of confidence for the town as a destination and, in particular, for the Gainsborough area.

“I believe it will signal the start of a much greater regeneration focus by business and commerce with a focus extending along the underdeveloped East Bank of the Orwell River.”

Asda facts:

Founded in 1965, the name is a short version of Associated Dairies.

It is now owned by American giant Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer.

Ipswich's Goddard Road store opened in 1987.

Both new stores are due to open in summer 2007.