THE old Jack and Jenny pub in Witham could become a new Morrisons store if proposals from the supermarket chain get the go-ahead.
A new shop at the site in Hatfield Road would be an M convenience store, similar to Tesco Express or Sainsbury's Local.
But Witham Town Council and residents who live near the site are strongly against the proposal.
At a council meeting last week Witham Town Council voted to oppose the plans that will now be put to Braintree District Council's planners for a final decision.
Michael Lager, vice-chairman of Witham Town Council, said: "The planning committee and the town council had concerns about the suitability of the site for a supermarket.
"A pub is one thing, but a supermarket will come with a great deal of large vehicles coming in and out, so there will be many more hazards to traffic and pedestrians just trying to access the shop.
"Residents also have concerns about noise of the traffic and the potential licensing times of the application.
"When a developer comes in with a chequebook to build something that brings jobs to the economy it's something we should consider, but we shouldn't just go ahead with the wrong thing and this is not right for the area.
"The initial application would have had the same licensing times as the pub which was 2am – there's no need for any shop to be selling alcohol at that time in the morning in this town, so we recommended that the licensing times be curtailed to around 10.30pm."
The Jack and Jenny is owned by Brakspear and has lain vacant ever since it closed earlier this year.
About 20 new jobs would be created in the area if the new store is built.
Laura Stubbs, a spokeswoman for Morrisons, said: "We're in the early stages of discussion about bringing a Morrisons M local to Witham. We look forward to sharing our plans with the community, should things progress."
