Asda, Britain's third-biggest supermarket chain, is lobbying for planning rules to be suspended in so-called "Tesco towns", a move which would allow the Wal-Mart-owned retailer to build giant out-of-town superstores on greenfield sites, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

The plan, included in a recent submission to the Competition Commission, is likely to spark outrage among environmental campaigners.

Details of Asda's proposals were exposed ahead of the publication of the Commission's long-awaited remedies statement this week - as a two-year inquiry into the £120bn grocery market reaches its climax.
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