Around 300 local residents have staged a protest outside the offices of Moyle District Council in Ballycastle in support of an application to build a Tesco store in the town.

According to a report in the Newsletter, resident Marie Morgan, 41 has started a petition to lobby for the store to come to the Co Antrim town, saying it was "long overdue".

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"We have three grocery shops in the town and that is it," she said.

"They have no competition. The opening of Tesco is not going to put anyone out of business, but it will allow choice.

"I started a petition today calling for Tesco to come to the town and in the space of only five hours I got more than 300 signatures. We all really want it."

The supermarket giant has released a statement confirming it is committed to launching a store in Ballycastle and has called on its supporters to "make their voices heard".

A revised application for a 15,000 sq ft store in the Leyland Road area of the town was submitted to Planning Service in early 2009.

(NS/GK)