Tesco store plans year-long closure to downsize

The council said it was "fantastic news" for people in High Wycombe

A Tesco store will close for almost a year for works to relocate a county archive.

The supermarket will temporarily close its High Wycombe store between October 2024 and autumn 2025 while the a refit takes place on the ground floor.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Tesco has renegotiated its lease with Buckinghamshire Council, which owns the building, and is downsizing to occupy the ground floor only.

The upper floors of the supermarket building will be repurposed into council offices and a new home for the county archives.

During the closure, Tesco will open a temporary Express store in the Eden Shopping Centre to maintain its presence in the town centre.

The archives are currently stored at the council’s Walton Street offices in Aylesbury, but the rooms housing the documents and artefacts – some of which are 800 years old – have reached capacity.

Maps, photographs and records from Victorian workhouses and prisons are included in the archives.

John Chilver, the council’s cabinet member for accessible housing and resources said: “This is fantastic news for High Wycombe residents.

“Not only do they retain a much-used supermarket, they will also benefit from the relocation of an important cultural and historical treasure trove, right on their doorstep in the form of the Buckinghamshire Archives."