Asda has hit a setback in its plans to open a second timber-frame store, which was due to welcome shoppers this autumn.

The grocer launched its first wooden eco store at Shaw in Greater Manchester this summer, but it will now not open its second, at Bootle in Merseyside, until the third quarter of next year.

Difficulties surrounding a planning agreement for the site that needs to be signed by the Ministry of Defence have forced the grocer to delay the project.

At the same time, Asda is investigating how it can make wooden-framed shops – which are more sustainable than conventional builds – part of its store model.

Asda retail development construction manager Mark Orpin said that tenders have been put out to lower the cost of building a timber store. He added that Asda hopes to build five more wooden shops, but that this will only happen if they can be made more affordable.

Asda has maintained a lower profile on environmental matters than some of its rivals. Asda head of corporate affairs Mary Mehigan said: “We don’t tell: we sell. We don’t have a Plan A. We’re not using this to market to customers.”

Mehigan added that Asda aims to become a business that is “100 per cent sustained by renewable energy”. However, she said that no timeline has been attached to the plan and that a store-by-store approach is being adopted to making stores more environmentally friendly.