WORKERS at Sainsbury's distribution depot in Basingstoke have been told that plans to move to a brand-new facility at New Greenham Park have been put on hold.

Many of the 900 staff at the Houndmills depot were told yesterday morning that the supermarket giant would not be using the planning permission it gained from West Berkshire Council to relocate to the former US airbase.

Instead, bosses will be going back to the drawing board. Tina Christou, head of property communications for the supermarket giant, told The Basingstoke Extra: "Staff were told we will not be implementing the current planning consent. But we will be talking to West Berkshire Council about it straight away.

"We have no time-line for this until we look at how planning consent can be altered to make a regional distribution centre viable. There are a number of constraints which make it uneconomical to use."

Ms Christou said these issues include matters such as the size of the proposed building, the height of the roof, access points, the rising cost of earthworks and transport restrictions.

She said a belt-tightening programme brought in by the company's new chief executive was also part of the reason.

A review of the whole business aims to reduce capital spending by £200million this year and will be finished in time for the publication of the second quarter trading statement on Tuesday, October 19.

Speaking about the New Greenham Park plan, Ms Christou said: "With the current trading situation, it was just one of the things that the board looked at."

The supermarket company has slipped from second to third place in the UK, being overtaken by rivals ASDA.

The company first announced in 1998 that it was planning to move from Houndmills and initially wanted a site by the M3 at Dummer.

When it decided on New Greenham Park, a pressure group - The North Hampshire and West Berkshire Joint Action Group (JAG) - was formed from local people fighting the plans. Sainsbury's eventually agreed to contribute almost £2million towards road improvements in the area.

Basingstoke borough councillor Alan Denness who is the chairman of JAG, said the latest announcement came after a lot of bad news for Sainsbury's. He said an emergency meeting of JAG is to be called to work out what the latest development means.

He said: "We have been in touch with legal people concerning the implications of any changes. It's a bit of a minefield. Does the money go with the site or what happens if the site is sold?"

Peta Stoddart-Crompton, public relations officer for West Berkshire Council, said: "This is Sainsbury's decision. The ball is in their court."