A SUPERMARKET giant wants to open a new shop in the vacant premises of a major clothes shop on Winchester High Street.

Tesco has announced it wants the empty former River Island unit.

Currently the building is boarded up, and is where Big Issue seller Kevin Collick has his pitch.

It is not known how many jobs the new store could create.

River Island closed in February 2016, after trading for 20 years.

Since that closure a number of shops in the city centre, including Beales, Jaeger, Next and Monsoon, have shut their doors, which has raised some doubts over the health of the retail sector in Winchester, and questions over whether Silver Hill should have as many shops as was proposed.

Councillor Ian Tait said: “The underlying rumour was that it would be a Tesco, and it’s because Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer make so much money from food.

“I thought it is a big enough site for them to have a shop and we know that from Sainsbury’s is there’s a lot of money to be made on food in the centre of Winchester.

“I think we were always clear that there was a lot of interest in the site and who ever would offer the most money would get it. But would Tesco be more first choice? Probably not, but competition is a good thing.”

The application on the building states Tesco Stores has applied for a new premises license to sell alcohol between 7am and 11pm from Monday to Sunday.

A spokesperson for Tesco said: “We are keen to open a store and serve customers in Winchester High Street and to that end we have applied for an alcohol licence. We look forward to the council’s decision and to updating people on our plans in the near future.”