Aldi has announced an updated priority list of UK locations where it is seeking sites for new stores.

The discount chain, now the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket, invited public suggestions on where it should open branches. It has since analysed those suggestions to fine tune its search.

Aldi plans to add more than 400 stores to its current network to reach a total of around 1,500 units. It will open 10 new stores over the summer, in areas including Caterham in Surrey and Sheffield in South Yorkshire.

The expansion plan will see Aldi invest £650m this year alone.

“We want to make high-quality, affordable food accessible to everyone, and that means opening new stores in the communities that need them most. The response from the public has been invaluable in helping us identify where demand is greatest, and where we need to focus our efforts on finding the sites that can become new stores,” said Aldi managing director of national real estate Jonathan Neale.

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The retailer is seeking sites that can accommodate a 20,000 sq ft store with around 100 parking spaces. However, it is also looking for smaller sites in central London locations to open Aldi Local format stores.

Looking forward, Aldi is prioritising sites in the following locations:

• Braintree, Essex
• Bromley, Greater London
• Chesham, Buckinghamshire
• Balby, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
• Ealing, Greater London
• Ferndown, Dorset
• Hitchin, Hertfordshire
• Kenilworth, Warwickshire
• Kirkby, Merseyside
• Largs, North Ayrshire
• Pickering, North Yorkshire
• Ponteland, Northumberland
• South Croydon, Greater London
• South Shields, Tyne and Wear
• Tadcaster, North Yorkshire
• Uckfield, East Sussex
• Warwick, Warwickshire
• Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
• Witney, Oxfordshire
• Worthing, West Sussex