BUDDING wordsmiths from a Middlewich school have challenged a supermarket giant to do something about the town’s ‘eyesore’.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School young writers club has issued Tesco with a list of suggestions on how to make better use of derelict land behind the Wallcroft Gardens store.

The group of 10 pupils, aged between seven and 11, have asked head office to consider converting the space into either a quiet area, a sensory garden, an allotment or wildlife habitat.

In the letter, the young writers club said: “Currently this land looks like an eyesore and causes an unattractive scene for all the residents nearby.

“You are wasting the perfect opportunity to develop this land into a community hub that is of benefit to all.

“Surely this is of upmost importance to you as the store itself is a community focal point and your company prides itself on supporting your community. You must understand our concerns.

“Our only motive is to provide the people of Middlewich with a beautiful piece of community land that inspires, enhances and engages the community with the help of your good selves.”

The club has also rendered invalid any potential cost or work implications that may stop progress on their project.

They added: “We are confident that local school and community groups would be willing to not only construct and develop the area, but also help fundraise to help the project become a reality.

“This would bring Middlewich together – which is surely our main goal isn’t it?”

Gemma Brinkhurst, a year 5 teacher at the school, formed the club as a way to promote writing across the curriculum and give pupils the chance to apply writing in real-life situations.

She says that a response from Tesco is not expected but she is nevertheless ‘extremely proud of the effort the children have put in’.

“The children had put in the effort to research about this land and were all really on board with putting something together,” Gemma said.

“They were concerned about the effect that it has on the community and wanted to play a part in fixing it.

“All their hard word is paying off for them and it great to see how committed they are to getting involved.”

The land was bought by Tesco in 2009 and plans were revealed to expand their current store.

But they were scrapped in 2013 and it has been on the market since 2015 with talks said to be at an ‘advanced stage’.

Tesco responded to the letter, saying it also wants the land to be brought back into community use, and reiterated that a sale of the land is imminent.

Mark Thomas, Tesco spokesman, said: “We appreciate the interest that St Mary’s pupils have taken in our site, the conviction with which they have made their case and the care they show for their local community in such an articulate way.

“We fund local projects like those suggested to support the environment through our Bags of Help programme and we’d love to see pupils’ ideas put forward for those potential grants.

“I understand it may be frustrating, but our land in Middlewich is in the late stages of a sale, so we’re not in a position to be able to provide it to the School.

“We hope that this means it will once again be brought back into use.”