A BID by Safeway to extend its Droitwich supermarket has fuelled speculations of a stores war.

The chain wants to extend the sales floor of its St Andrew's Square branch by more than half.

Safeway's plans were revealed the same week another supermarket giant, Waitrose signed and sealed an agreement for a new multi-million pound store in the town.

And while Safeway will not say its planned extension has anything to do with the Waitrose development, a spokesman said that the company "always welcomes competition."

A spokeswoman for Wychavon District Council said shoppers may well benefit from the battle.

"Safeway was in fact granted planning permission to extend the sales floor by 835sq metres in 1996, but never actually put this into practice,"she said.

"This lapsed last year and so Safeway has applied for planning permission once more.

"The fact it has done so in the same week Waitrose signed their agreement could be a coincidence.

"I think a stores war could be on our hands, which could only be good for Droitwich,"the spokesman added.