PLANS to develop Worcester's Lychgate shopping precinct are a "non-starter" because of its multi-storey car park, it has been claimed.

Worcester City Council planning officers hope the area around Sainsbury's and the Giffard Hotel will be revamped.

The head of planning and economic development, Mark Middleton, told members of the city's technical services committee last month that the road layout might be altered and the shopping units extended.

But a spokesman for Asda - which wants a supermarket at the city's former cattle market site - has dismissed the idea as out of touch.

"It's a non-starter," said Simon Hoare.

"If any of the main retailers were interested they would be looking to occupy the site. "But the only car parking nearby is multi-storey and people don't want that - it provokes fear."

He claimed shoppers saw multi-storeys as unsafe as well as inconvenient for people carrying bags of goods.

Retailers were worried that shopping hours would be restricted because of people living near to Lychgate, Mr Hoare added.

Asda proposes putting around 450 parking spaces at its 50,000sq ft store. Twenty per cent of the supermarket would be allocated for goods such as clothing.

Mr Hoare claimed Sainsbury's was likely to move out of the city centre because of Lychgate's limitations.

But Stuart McNidder, the director of technical services, said the area could attract retailers.

"Perhaps this criticism is linked to the fact that the owners of the Lychgate, Tops Estates, have objected to Asda's development plans," he said.

"If multi-storey car parking is unpopular, why has Asda proposed a three-tier car park for its new store in Bromsgrove?"

Alun Davies, the regional development executive for Sainsbury's, said no decision to leave Lychgate had been made but Tops Estates had opened negotiations about redevelopment.

"They spoke to us and said 'we'll come back to you', but we haven't heard from the company," he said.

Sainsbury's plans for a supermarket in St John's would have no bearing on the future of the Lychgate branch, he added.