Councillors at South Molton want Tesco to tell them about its plans for the town.

They are asking the supermarket giant to send representatives to speak to them directly.

But they have stopped short of issuing a similar invitation to rival supermarkets.

Tesco already owns land at Norrington’s Yard in the central car park area.

But the firm needs to buy more land from North Devon Council if it is to build a store of the size thought likely to be proposed.

It is a hot topic among townspeople, even though a planning application has not yet been submitted and the issue was debated in the open-to-the-public part of a recent town council meeting.