A SENIOR council officer has defended his authority's decision to hold out for a higher price for a key plot of land in a two-year wrangle with a supermarket chain.

Charles Anderson, chief executive of Teesdale District Council, spoke out after being accused of coming out with a worse deal than the council could have got in 1998.

Yesterday, Mr Anderson defended the local authority's decision to increase the asking price for the strip of land in Barnard Castle town centre to £150,000, compared with the £80,000 offered for it three years ago.

After protracted negotiations, the council is understood to have finally concluded a deal last week to sell the land for £160,000 to supermarket group Safeway.

Mr Anderson said that the council had done the right thing in holding out for a far better price, despite criticism from some members of the public.

The company says the £15m supermarket will be ready for trading in 2003.

Mr Anderson's comments follow criticism from local businessman Brent Stephenson, who says the local authority should have settled for the £80,000 offered back in 1998.

He argued that although the council might have now received more than double the original asking price, the local authority would still have to pay for maintenance of the car park until such time as the new store was built.

He said that could be many years away.

After the deal was struck, Mr Stephenson said: "It is about time they came to an agreement, which should have been made two-years ago. We must now ensure that the supermarket is built, and built quickly."

Mr Anderson rejected Mr Stephenson's criticism of the negotiations.

He said: "As to the issue surrounding the price of the land, and whether or not we got a worse deal than if we had sold it two-years ago, he is wrong. We didn't have to sell the land and, of course, we have got a better a deal.