Supermarket giants Sainsbury's and Waitrose are competing to get a food store built as part of the redevelopment of Bicester town centre.

Sainsbury's spent £13m buying the Crown Walk shopping centre, which backs on to one of the three car parks between Sheep Street and Manorsfield Road which would be swallowed up by the development.

Sainsbury's withdrew a plan for a store which it inherited from the previous owners and is due to submit a new plan to Cherwell District Council, which owns the car parks.

This week, Waitrose entered the fray with a planning application from Kimberley Developments to construct a food store with 25,000sq ft of sales space, 12 small shops, a multi-screen cinema, car parking for 520 vehicles and a new bus station.

Kimberley originally wanted to build a Waitrose supermarket at the corner of Buckingham Road and Skimmingdish Lane, on the northern outskirts. But this was dropped when a planning appeal was lost.

David Anderson, chairman of Kimberley Developments, said: "We want to team up with Waitrose to enhance the quality and choice of shopping for local people and bring a new name into the town.

"We feel that the position of the supermarket on our site will provide a much-needed boost to the west end of Sheep Street, helping the overall balance of the town centre. As Waitrose specialises in food, we feel that this will complement the other small retailers in the town selling non-food items."

Traders have welcomed the redevelopment plans, but are calling for a survey of future car parking. They are concerned about where temporary car parking will be provided while the development is being built.

David Simpson, chairman of Bicester and District Chamber of Commerce, said: "We think this is an opportunity for Cherwell to get the car parking right for the town to cater for the growth in the population."

He said retailers would prefer the district council to create a permanent long-stay car park, rather than temporary short-stay bays at the disused cattle market in Victoria Road.

The chamber said short-stay spaces should be nearer the Dean's Court shopping precinct.