A local politician vying for the Monmouth assembly seat this May has expressed her concern over the ongoing speculation over Morrison’s proposed move to Abergavenny.

Labour candidate Catherine Fookes, who is looking to unseat Nick Ramsay, has said local residents ‘deserve to know what’s going on’ with the £16m development which was ratified in March 2014.

Morrisons was the chosen developer to build a 25,000 square foot store on the site of the old livestock market, which was replaced by a £5m development at Bryngwyn, near Raglan.

Ms Fookes, who is looking to overturn a 6,000 Conservative majority, sent a letter to the Morrisons CEO last November asking for an update on the development, but did not receive a reply despite chasing the issue numerous times.

“I wrote to the CEO of Morrisons as I’ve had the issue of the empty cattle market site raised by residents so I felt I could help by trying to get some answers and reassurance from the supermarket.

“It’s really worrying that they have not responded. I will be pressing them again this week for a response as Abergavenny residents deserve to know what’s going on. I’d like to know if Monmouthshire County Council has heard from them too. Surely they should have some news.”

The supermarket giant paid a £1.7m deposit as part of a legally-binding contract, with the remaining £15m is due in June this year. The deposit would be lost if building work has not commenced by that date.

FOR MORE ON THIS STORY PICK UP THIS WEEK’S CHRONICLE