A MAJOR supermarket chain is targeting York, Harrogate and Scarborough as it continues its expansion drive.

Though York already has three of discount retailers, the city has been highlighted as a priority for the German-owned chain.

Harrogate also has an Aldi, along with Scarborough, and is also being targeted by the company..

Aldi announced it was stepping up its search for new sites earlier this month, saying new industry data showed it was the UK’s fastest growing supermarket.

Sales have increased over 26% year-on-year, during the last three months Aldi attracted 1.3m more shoppers with customer spend switching from every other supermarket.

Aldi plans to invest more than £400 million in store development over the coming year as it targets new and refurbished stores across the UK, including in the Midlands, North West, North East, Yorkshire and coastal towns.

Aldi currently has more than 990 stores but is committed to continuing towards its current target of 1,200 stores across the UK to reach more shoppers.

That means it is on the lookout for freehold town-centre or edge-of-town sites that are around 1.5 acres and can accommodate a 20,000sq foot store with around 100 parking spaces.

Ideally, the company says each location would be near a main road with good visibility and access and in one of its priority areas.

The supermarket offers a finder’s fee for agents who recommend a site, which is either 1.5% of a freehold price or 10% of the first year’s rent for leasehold sites.

Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer at Aldi UK, said: “Demand for Aldi has never been higher but there are still some towns and areas that either don’t have access to an Aldi or have capacity for additional stores.

“To meet that demand, we need to open more stores and it’s our mission to keep driving our ambitious expansion plan to achieve that.”

A spokesperson for Aldi told the Press it had no further details available concerning specific locations where stores may be built or expanded.

York’s Aldi’s are on Fulford Road, Water Lane, and Kathryn Avenue.

In the region, Aldi also has stores in Wetherby, Knaresborough, Pocklington,  Sherburn-in-Elmet, Selby, Ripon and Thirsk.

The supermarket chain has a focus on sourcing British products, despite its German ownership.

Earlier today, it was revealed Aldi would be stocking chocolate sourced from York choclate brand Wizards Magic.

Last summer, it also began selling Yorkshire Pudding Beer, produced by the Malton Brewery.

In November, it also announced £12.5M of extra support for the British egg industry.