A supermarket chain hoping to build a new store in Witney has angered a local councillor after asking people to phone him at home to show their support.

Warwick Robinson, chairman of the West Oxfordshire District Council planning committee, which will decide if Asda can build a new superstore in Downs Road, Witney, said he was inundated with calls after a letter went out to 300 people.

He said: "I'm furious at the intrusion into my private life. The first I heard of it was when my wife called me because she was getting phone call after phone call after phone call. She put on the answerphone, and when I got back at lunchtime the capacity was full."

Since Mr Robinson complained, Asda have agreed to send emails and first-class letters to the residents they had contacted asking them not to call him at home.

Asda spokesman Mark Brown said: "We certainly had no desire to upset Councillor Robinson. We asked people to convey their support to him in his capacity as chairman of the planning committee. The number came from the district council website, a public source, and we gave people a number of different ways to get in touch with him.

"Those people who did get in touch wanted to contact an elected representative to communicate their views." Both Asda and Sainsbury, which already operates a shop in the town, have been asking people in the district to support their plans. Asda hopes to build on the 16-acre site at Downs Road in a deal which will include a new 3,500 capacity stadium for Witney United football club. Sainsburys wants to build a 1,440sqm extension to its store in Witan Way, but recently attracted criticism after publishing an advert using the spelling "Whitney" and the name "Witan Road".