Morrisons' bid for troubled grocery chain Safeway was today given a boost by a shopping survey.

The news comes as bosses at the Bradford-based supermarket giant were meeting competition watchdogs to outline their plans to take over Safeway.

A poll has revealed the overlap between Morrisons' stores and Safeway's might be much narrower than previously thought.

This could make the Competition Commission less concerned about Morrisons' takeover proposals.

The survey, which was undertaken by international research company ID Magasin, found the average time it takes people to drive to their nearest supermarket is 11 minutes.

The Commission had assumed the journey for most shoppers took up to 15 minutes .

The poll, which appeared in trade magazine The Grocer, now calls into question the accepted definition of local competition.

Because the Competition Commission had based its sums on the 15-minute drive time, it had worked out there would be a 46-store overlap between Morrisons and Safeway.

A Morrisons spokesman said: "Naturally there is a great deal of healthy debate over how to measure drive times and other aspects of shopping patterns.

"But whichever way you cut it, we believe that a merger of Morrisons and Safeway would be good for choice and good for consumers."

Last month Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt referred Morrisons' bid for the Safeway chain to the Competition Commission on the grounds it would affect competition on a local if not national basis.

Today top directors from Morrisons, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's were due to tell the Commission what they would do with Safeway if they were given the green light to proceed.

Bosses expected to meet watchdog officials include Sir Ken Morrison, Sir Terry Leahy of Tesco, Sir Peter Davis of Sainsbury's, and Tony de Nunzio, chief executive of Asda.

The Commission was looking at local competition issues, as well as national issues, including the effect of the proposed takeover on the wider competition situation in the UK and its potential impact on suppliers.

Each of the four supermarkets were expected to get 15 minutes to speak on the issues under investigation in each session.

Morrisons would have about 16 per cent market share - the limit is 25 per cent - if it won the battle to take over Safeway and it was likely to argue its deal would be best for consumers and suppliers by creating a strong fourth national food retailer.