CUT price supermarket Aldi has announced plans to open TWELVE new stores in Somerset.

The company is on the lookout for locations in Taunton, Wellington and Chard, as well as nine other towns.

Aldi already has a store at Bathpool on the outskirts of Taunton, as well as outlets in Bridgwater and Highbridge.

The UK's fifth largest supermarket, it plans to have 1,200 stores open by 2025 - it currently has more than 880.

It says it would like to build the new Somerset stores on sites of around 1.5 acres to accommodate a 20,000sq ft store with around 100 parking spaces, ideally on a prominent main road and with good visibility and access.

Ciaran Aldridge, National Property Director at Aldi UK, said: “Aldi is growing rapidly and we are welcoming around a million new customers into our stores every year.

“But there are also hundreds of towns across the UK where there is not an Aldi, meaning there are hundreds of thousands of people who can’t easily access the high quality, affordable food our customers love.

“We are willing to explore all opportunities, including developer-led schemes or existing retail units.”

The full list of locations it is targeting in Somerset are Chard, Keynsham, Nailsea, Taunton, Wellington, Wells, Weston-super-Mare, Bath, Frome, Midsomer Norton, Wincanton and

Yeovil.