New Tesco opens in Eastbourne town centre

The new Tesco Express store on Terminus Road opened its doors to customers in Eastbourne for the first time on Friday morning.

The store has been a long time coming as plans to open a new Tesco Express in 83-85 Terminus Road were given the go ahead by councillors back in November 2022.

Initially the supermarket chain had been seeking a licence for its Terminus Road store which would allow it to sell alcohol from 6am until midnight, seven days a week.

These hours had seen objections raised by Sussex Police, which argued the store should close at 10pm as its location made it an inappropriate site for late-night alcohol sales. Similar concerns around late-night drinking and anti-social behaviour in Terminus Road were also raised by two public objectors.

A compromise was later struck as during a hearing councillors heard there had been further discussions between Tesco and the police, resulting in the business seeking an earlier closing time of 11pm. The store had also agreed to employ SIA-registered security staff on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

These negotiated conditions were accepted by the committee, which confirmed the grant of the licence in a decision notice published on November 7, 2022.

This will be the 10th Tesco branch in the Eastbourne area.

Currently, there is also a Tesco Express in Grove Road and Seaside Road in the town centre.

A spokesperson from Tesco said: “We are really excited to open a new Tesco Express on Terminus Road in Eastbourne.