Two major supermarket chains have gone into battle to try to stop a superstore being built on the site of a famous mill complex.

Bradford-based Morrisons and Somerfield Stores Ltd, which includes Kwik Save, claim the planned Tesco store at the Black Dyke Mills site in Queensbury is too large and a threat to other stores and shopping centres throughout the area.

The row is mounting in a village which is already split with people welcoming the new store and the 250 jobs it is expected to bring.

But others fear serious traffic problems will be created by the multi-million pound scheme off Brighouse Road.

The scheme would mean the demolition of seven 1970s warehouses on the lower area of the site which was once occupied by textile wool giant John Foster and Sons Ltd.

The former main mill buildings, which are now occupied by businesses and three shops, are not affected by the proposed scheme.

Conservative ward Councillor Stuart Hanson said the community was divided and feeling was growing. He said: "We will be talking to the company to see if any sort of compromise can be reached.

"I would like to see a medium-sized supermarket. I think a bigger store would have a really detrimental effect on local shops."

A spokesman at Bradford Council's planning department said: "The application is for a large foods store. We have received a considerable weight of representations both for and against.

"We don't dispute the need for shopping here but we need to look at the scale of this application and traffic it might bring from elsewhere."

Morrisons has written that the proposal is out of scale for Queensbury and will create a "harmful diversion of trade from other centres."

Tesco wants to build a 5,500 square metre food store on the site of the warehouses. But it proposes redeveloping a site on the other side of the road with premises to replace the lost business units.

A Tesco spokesman said people were reluctantly shopping outside Queensbury because of the lack of suitable stores. He said: "We have now received 782 responses to a leaflet we sent out explaining our proposals. Of those 695, or 89 per cent, ticked yes when asked if they were in favour."

He said the company would pay for traffic lights at the junction of Brighouse Road and High Street, if it was given planning permission.

He added: "It is a shame other supermarkets are putting competitive rivalry above the clear wishes of Queensbury people. Residents are fed up with travelling miles to other stores, including ours, for basic every day items."

The planning application is expected to be heard by councillors in about two months.