By Luke Cross
lukecross@trinitysouth.co.uk
THE Tesco tunnel collapse in Gerrards Cross has forced the supermarket giant to write off at least £35 million.
Tesco this week announced record pre-tax profits of £2.6 billion for the financial year to the end of February.
The company is planning a massive expansion and £250 million investment in the United States with the aim of mirroring its unparalleled success in the UK.
But back in Gerrards Cross, one proposed store remains a skeletal, redundant shell after part of the tunnel holding it up collapsed onto the Chiltern Railway line in June 2005.
With each store seen as a "cash-generating unit" and tested for "impairment," the site in Gerrards Cross is apparently haemorrhaging money.
The report says: "We are facing continuing uncertainty in respect of our Gerrards Cross site as a result of the complex legal situation following the tunnel collapse.
"No decision has yet been taken about the future for this site.
"However, at year-end we have written off the carrying value of our existing asset there (an impairment charge of £35m).
"We are not yet in a position to assess any recoveries or liabilities in respect of ongoing claims."
Alan Moore, chairman of the Gerrards Cross Parish Council Tesco working party, said: "In some ways it shows that they are prepared to put a large sum of money in to a venture that will never repay that amount and you wonder how much more is going to be spent for either completing the store or restoring the railway cutting.
"I doubt if they would be able to have recourse to Jackson (Civil Engineering) other than a long, drawn out legal battle that would cost a lot more money.
"I have not seen any indication of the apportioning of blame for what happened almost two years ago.
"I just think people in Gerrards Cross are absolutely fed up with the lack of progress - there are several things you cannot call it and you cannot call it neat and tidy."