Tesco bosses labelled the move by the OFT as a "perverse outcome"

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has taken the action after the supermarket giant failed to find a rival to buy a former Co-op site it owns in Slough.

Tesco had assured the OFT it would find a one-stop store operator to take on the Uxbridge Road site three years ago to ensure fair competition.

Tesco bosses labelled the move by the OFT a "perverse outcome".

We have always intended to redevelop and sell the Co-op site and that remains our intention Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Tesco

Tesco has been looking for a rival to take on the site since February 2004.

In March last year, consent for the redevelopment of the Co-op site was finally granted, but Tesco had still not found a buyer.

An OFT spokesman said: "By January 2007 the OFT had serious concerns and called a meeting with Tesco.

"At that meeting, Tesco could not name a credible candidate purchaser.

"The OFT therefore set a final deadline for Tesco to propose suitable up-front purchasers as part of a final effort to deliver a solution without a full Competition Commission inquiry. This deadline has now passed."

Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Tesco's executive director for corporate and legal affairs, said potential buyers had been found but they did not meet the OFT's requirements.

She added: "This is a perverse outcome of the competition rules.

"It will create further delay and uncertainty for shoppers in Slough, the vast majority of whom we know from our surveys to be happy with their experience of food shopping.

"We have always intended to redevelop and sell the Co-op site and that remains our intention. "We have potential purchasers but they are not regarded by the OFT as one-stop operators."