Aldi has pinpointed 15 towns and places in Essex where it wants to build new stores.

The budget supermarket already has dozens of shops in the county, but has revealed it still wants to build plenty more in the coming years.

It has set a target of having 1,200 stores open by 2025 as part of a major expansion of the chain in the UK.

Echo: The 15 areas Aldi want to build new stores in EssexThe 15 areas Aldi want to build new stores in Essex

And it has revealed its wishlist of places it wants to build new stores in Essex.

They are:

  • Basildon
  • Brentwood
  • Canvey Island
  • Colchester
  • Epping
  • Great Dunmow
  • Harlow
  • Leigh on Sea
  • Rayleigh
  • Rochford/Hockley
  • Shenfield
  • Shoebury
  • South Woodham Ferrers
  • Stanford Le Hope/Corringham
  • Tilbury

The chain is on the lookout for freehold town-centre or edge-of-centre sites suitable for development.

It says each site should be around 1.5 acres and able to accommodate a 20,000 sq ft store with about 100 parking spaces, ideally on a prominent main road and with good visibility and access.

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Ciaran Aldridge, National Property Director at Aldi UK, said: “Aldi is growing rapidly and we are welcoming around a million new customers into our stores every year.

“But there are also hundreds of towns across the UK where there is not an Aldi, meaning there are hundreds of thousands of people who can’t easily access the high quality, affordable food our customers love.

“We are willing to explore all opportunities, including developer-led schemes or existing retail units.”