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Garden centre chain Dobbies is urging its investors to back a £155.6 million takeover bid made for the company by supermarket giant Tesco.

The Scottish-based business revealed today that it is writing to all shareholders "to explain why it believes that it is in their best interests to accept what the board regards as a very generous offer for their shares from Tesco".

News that Dobbies' bosses are seeking to persuade investors to back Tesco's 1,500p-a-share bid comes after one of the company's main shareholders said that it would not back the offer as it failed "to reflect the true value" of the garden centre business.

West Coast Capital (WCC), which owns a 26 per cent stake in Dobbies, said in a statement yesterday that it would have been in the interests of shareholders if the company's board "had created a framework which would have allowed a more competitive bidding process to take place".

But while suggesting that Dobbies should have tried to attract other potential bids, the investment vehicle of Scottish property magnate Tom Hunter ruled out making a rival offer for the company - which operates 21 outlets across England and Scotland.

In a further development yesterday Tesco was again forced to extend the period it has given Dobbies investors to accept its bid after failing to secure the necessary support for the takeover offer.

The retailer confirmed in a statement that Dobbies' shareholders will now have until August 19th to back its deal, after revealing that it had secured just 32.6 per cent of the 50 per cent backing it needs for the takeover to go ahead.

Urging its investors to accept the bid today, Dobbies stressed that the company did not require the backing of WCC for the bid to succeed.

"We retain the view that the offer from Tesco Holdings is an excellent one and that it is in the best interests of all shareholders to accept it," said Dobbies chairman Alex Hammond-Chambers.

But while WCC has ruled out making a rival bid for Dobbies, analysts say that its owner could still attempt to thwart the supermarket's planned takeover of the firm by snapping up more shares in the garden centre business.