Sainsbury’s planned multi-million pound move to a new store in Huntingdon has been shelved.

The supermarket chain announced on its website it had not included the new superstore in its building programme, which Sainsbury’s has scaled back after warning that the squeeze on the supermarket industry will last for another few years.

The chain is mothballing a number of schemes – including the Huntingdon west of town centre development – after announcing profits of £375million, 6.3 per cent lower than a year earlier.

The Hunts Post had been pushing for Sainsbury’s to publicly commit to building the new supermarket, allowing its current site in St Germain Walk to be used as part of the redevelopment of the Chequers Court area.

However, a statement on the supermarket’s website has been updated to say: “Although planning permission has been approved by Huntingdonshire District Council, we currently do not yet have a start date for our new Huntingdon store.

“The food retail market is extremely competitive and has changed considerably since our proposals in Huntingdon were first submitted in late 2010. For this reason the store is not currently on a build programme and we are therefore unable to confirm a start date for the construction of the store itself.

“In the meantime, we are always looking to enhance our stores and hope to bring forward some improvements to our store on St Germain Walk in Huntingdon. We hope to undertake a refresh in the new year to provide our customers with a fresh and modern shopping experience. The store would remain open throughout any works.”