THE number of Trafford residents for and against Tesco’s plans to build a superstore in Stretford are neck-and-neck – according to town planners.

By the end of January, Trafford Council had received 156 letters objecting to the plans, compared to 156 in favour, from borough-based residents and businesses.

Support for the scheme, which includes the redevelopment of Old Trafford cricket ground, rose significantly, though, when people from outside the borough were factored in, with another 791 letters of support being sent in.

Cricket fans across the north west have also been registering their support on Lancashire County Cricket Club’s website which has so far had 3,721 pledges – almost half from the Greater Manchester area and 451 directly from Trafford.

Gorse Hill Community Action Group has also handed in a 341-named petition in favour of the proposals, which will be heard next month.

Jim Cumbes, LCCC’s chief executive, said: “We’ve received fantastic support from both the north west’s cricketing community and, in particular, hundreds of local people in Trafford who appreciate the benefits of this scheme.

“High profile schemes like this traditionally receive significant levels of opposition, so it is tremendous to see that supportive letters outnumber opponents by nearly four to one.”

But campaigners against the 170,000 sq ft store described the figures as ‘meaningless’.

“The vast majority of pledges of support from the LCCC’s website are from people who do not live in this area,” said ‘no’ campaigner Margaret Westbrook.

“We, however, have handed in petitions showing the opposition of more than 700 local people to the Tesco element of the application.

“The statistics provided by LCCC are meaningless. Most people have signed up to this because they want the Ashes Tests and international matches there.

“People must be made aware that the NoMegaTesco campaign is not against the development of the cricket ground. We’re against the basis upon which the application has been submitted – to build one of the biggest Tesco’s stores in the country. “We believe financial support for the development could and should be found from elsewhere.”