Parish chairman Michael Fellows says the town council's decision "came from a standpoint of ignorance."

The plans for a distribution centre at Long Wood, which could be even bigger than Morrison's, are currently under debate as part of Vale Royal Borough Council's local plan enquiry.

But the project is also a lynchpin of Cheshire County Council's structure plan, which is going through a draft modification stage this month.

Northwich Town Council voted unanimously on Monday not to back Lostock's objections at county level.

Clr Kevin Mannion told the Guardian: "The town council's point of view is to ensure that whenever a major job opportunity comes along, it is taken.

"ICI was the major employer in Northwich, and that is no longer the case, so we do need to sustain the local economy."

But Clr Fellows says the grounds for the decision are extremely weak.

"It's a standpoint of ignorance to use the employment factor as a criterion," he added.

"The unemployment rate in Northwich is 2.6 per cent. That's one of the lowest rates for any comparable area in the North West.

"To have a distribution centre here, in an area of very low unemployment, it is, if you like, taking jobs away from other areas that need them more - like Blackburn and Preston, and even other areas of Cheshire.

"There is no sense in greedily excluding the unemployed elsewhere."

He added that Vale Royal Council officials had themselves conceded that the development would not have a direct effect on local unemployment.

"These schemes are designed to improve regional economies, not local ones," he said.

"Both Vale Royal at the local plan level, and Cheshire at the structure plan level, have stated that local unemployment is not a factor."

But Clr Ron Woodier, who proposed the motion not to support Lostock, defended the decision.

"There's going to be 1,800 houses in Kingsmead alone eventually," he added.

"That is going to create a need for jobs.

"I stand by the decision, because it's the unanimous decision of the town council, and of 99.9 per cent of the Vale Royal Labour group."

Clr Fellows has shrugged off the snub.

"It doesn't affect our campaign," he added.

"There's plenty of other local councils lending us all kinds of support, from simple moral support to sending leaflets on our behalf.

"We're going from strength to strength, regardless of the town council's decision."

Clr Dorie Willington, Lostock's borough councillor, was unable to attend the meeting due to illness.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.