Tesco/Quinnsworth has been ordered by the High Court to resume its supermarket trade in an Athlone shopping centre. The supermarket giant has already moved to the new Golden Island centre in the Co Westmeath town - 400 yards from the Athlone centre - and may appeal to the Supreme Court against the High Court decision. The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Costello, gave the company until Friday next to reopen.

In the meantime, he has ordered the company to remove all screening from display windows and any signs indicating that the premises are closed.

Yesterday the judge granted an interlocutory injunction to Wanze Properties (Ireland) Ltd, whose portfolio includes the Athlone shopping centre, the Dundalk centre and the Janelle centre in Dublin.

The court order is to continue until the trial of an action between the parties.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Costello said there was a clear, flagrant and deliberate breach by Quinnsworth of its lease in the Athlone centre. The company accepted it had breached its covenant, had done so with its eyes open and on that basis was prepared to pay damages.

The supermarket company had submitted it was settled law that it was not available to the owners of the Athlone centre to seek specific performance of the lease.

Mr Justice Costello said that at this stage of the proceedings he had only to decide if there was a reasonable prospect that the trial judge would grant a mandatory injunction to the owners of the Athlone centre requiring Quinnsworth to resume trading.

Tesco/Quinnsworth had taken a deliberate commercial decision that it would expand its business 400 yards away in a different shopping centre, the judge said. He was sure this was taken as a result of careful consideration of economic benefits.

Tesco/Quinnsworth had a lease to run for a further period of 12 years in the Athlone centre. There was a strong arguable case that any financial loss which Tesco/Quinnsworth would suffer as a result of being required to remain in the Athlone centre was brought on its own head by its own actions, he said.

In those circumstances, the owners of the Athlone centre had satisfied him they had a strong arguable case that, at the hearing of the actions, they would get the orders they were seeking.

The owners of the Athlone centre had made out a prima-facie case that they were facing a very serious, perhaps catastrophic, loss as a result of Tesco/Quinnsworth's decision.

Earlier, Mr Hugh O'Neill SC, for Wanze Properties, said the application was to restrain a breach of contract by the defendants who had made a conscious decision to walk away from their obligations.

Last Monday, without any prior warning, Quinnsworth had closed its supermarket and put a sign on the window welcoming old customers to the new Tesco store. It was, in effect, saying: "Sorry, we have moved across the road and it's now too late to ask us to continue trading".

Mr O'Neill said Tesco/Quinns worth had been aware of its obligations but had built a supermarket in a neighbouring shopping centre with the intention of closing the Quinnsworth store and leaving his clients to make a claim for damages.

In an affidavit, Mr Bernard Hamill, managing director of Wanze Properties, said Quinnsworth's requirements in the Athlone centre were a key element in his company's decision to embark on a £1.5 million refurbishment of the centre.

As a result of the decision to move, some of the tenants in the Athlone centre had informed him they were suspending payment of any further rent.

In another affidavit, Ms Louise Phillips, the Tesco/Quinnsworth property manager, said the supermarket made a trading profit of £391,000 last year in the Athlone centre. It estimated that if required to recommence trading it would incur an annual loss of £336,000.

In closing its supermarket in the Athlone centre, the company had taken a decision based on the best commercial and legal advice available to it.

Mr John Farrell SC, for Tesco/Quinnsworth, said it fully accepted it was liable for damages but not for specific performance. The reality was that chain stores had to grow, he said.

They could not stand still in the supermarket business. His clients had made efforts to find a suitable client for the premises.