It used to be called Tesco Town. It was a disparaging reference to the four stores the supermarket giant has in Inverness, giving it sector dominance.

One might have inferred from this that there would be good relations between the company and Highland Council, which is the planning authority

However, nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed it looks as though the two are set for a court battle.

The local authority insists it is due £340,000 from Tesco for planning gain. But the company which is fond of saying "Every Little Helps" is not about to hand over a little of its dosh to help the council.

It has all to do with the building of the controversial and long delayed £34m West Link road round the Highland capital. When it is built it will mean that traffic coming up the A82 from Fort William will not need to go through the centre of Inverness to get to the A9 to Perth or the A96 to Aberdeen. It will cross both the Caledonian Canal and the River Ness.

Tesco's fourth and newest store on Ness-side, to the south of the two waterways, is just off a stretch of the Inverness Southern Distributor road, which has already been built and will be integral to the West Link.

The company bought the land for the Ness-side store in 2001 and signed a section 75 planning agreement with Highland Council. This included a payment of £340,000 towards the cost of constructing the West Link.

But Tesco say the agreement was conditional on the West Link road being completed, as then planned, by October 2011. However work on the road is not expected to even start until next year.

The company says the value of its store has already fallen significantly because of the delay

But Highland Council remembers things differently. More specifically that the planning deal referred to the building of already constructed sections of the Inverness Southern Distributor road. So lawyers for the council say Tesco should cough up.

Officially nothing much is being said publicly. A Highland Council statement this week simply said: "As there are ongoing discussions between the council and Tesco, regarding the agreement which relates to the Southern Distributor Road, we are unable to comment further at this time."

It is just the latest twist in a story that stretches back 45 years when the old Inverness Town Council first started debating building what effectively would be a ring road.

But it was only in April this year that the road project was finally awarded 'final final' planning permission.

It will involve two miles of new single-carriageway road with five roundabouts, a swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal and a new bridge over the River Ness.

There has been stiff local opposition because of the impact on recreational land, particularly beside the Caledonian Canal. Inverness Civic Trust had earlier called for a moratorium for a year whilst the other options could be independently evaluated.

But now it looks as though work will actually start next year, although nobody in the north would be totally surprised if there were a few twists yet.