South Oxfordshire District Council is now in the driving seat for Wallingford's town centre redevelopment.

But the town council is saying it must not be left on the sidelines while negotiations are going on.

The redevelopment programme is looking at the former Waitrose building, in St Martin's Street, the land behind it, the Regal Centre and town council-owned land behind it.

The town council, the Civic Trust and two other studies have said the development must retain the Goldsmiths Lane car park, while creating shops and food outlets on the rest of the site.

But those alone would not bring in enough money for a developer to take it on, according to former mayor Nigel Moor, who said some housing must be included to make it viable.

The town council is adamant that there must also be a community leisure facility, like the Regal Centre.

But although the councils own some of the land, the bulk - including the Waitrose building - is owned by the Manchester-based Co-op Finance Group.

A spokesman for the district council said: "We have arranged meetings with the property group to see if we can come to a joint agreement on how the land should be developed and what facilities it should contain.

"We're doing everything we can to drive this development forward - the district council is committed to promoting Wallingford and making sure its economic future is secure."

Town councillor Lynda Atkins said: "Although the district council is very definitely in the driving seat now, we must be kept in touch with everything that is going on."

A spokesman for Co-op Property said talks would continue but the group did not have any concrete plans for the site at this stage.