Angry residents across the country are turning up the heat on Tesco, with protests reaching fever pitch.
The retailer has faced a storm of protests in recent months as campaigners fight against stores opening in their local areas.
In Gerrards Cross, the Tesco-owned tunnel which collapsed six weeks ago was set to reopen today (Saturday) amid accusations that the retailer has kept residents in the dark about its progress. Locals held a demonstration earlier this week outside nearby Gerrards Cross station to protest that the line had remained closed with scant information from Tesco. One demonstrator said: “People are so fed up with not knowing what’s happening; we feel it is about time we voice our feelings.”
However, Tesco spokeswoman Kathryn Edwards said Tesco had provided two updates on the progress of the tunnel and financial support to affected passengers and businesses.
She added that a detailed investigation was still under way.
Meanwhile, city councillors and residents have lodged complaints over Tesco’s plans to extend a proposed store in Carlisle, Cumbria. The retailer was granted permission for a 40,000 sq ft store in the Viaduct Estate area last year but has since extended its plans to a
71,000 sq ft store on stilts with a car park underneath it (The Grocer, July 9, p16).
Residents in Norfolk have also formed a coalition to fight the opening of a Tesco Express in Norwich. Residents Against Unthank Tesco group says that the proposed store on Unthank Road will increase traffic.
Controversy also continues at the new Extra store in Slough, Berkshire. The Borough Council had to change the sequencing of a new set of traffic lights on the A4 after 17,000 people visiting on the opening day on August 1 brought traffic to a standstill.
Meanwhile, councillors in St Albans, Hertfordshire, are claiming that Tesco has failed to act on plans for a new store for more than 18 months. They claim that the site Tesco bought is boarded up and decaying.
Residents in Kew, Surrey, have also been left disgruntled after Tesco installed a shopfront, cash machine and disabled ramp without planning permission. A new application has now been approved by Richmond upon Thames Council.
Beth Brooks
The retailer has faced a storm of protests in recent months as campaigners fight against stores opening in their local areas.
In Gerrards Cross, the Tesco-owned tunnel which collapsed six weeks ago was set to reopen today (Saturday) amid accusations that the retailer has kept residents in the dark about its progress. Locals held a demonstration earlier this week outside nearby Gerrards Cross station to protest that the line had remained closed with scant information from Tesco. One demonstrator said: “People are so fed up with not knowing what’s happening; we feel it is about time we voice our feelings.”
However, Tesco spokeswoman Kathryn Edwards said Tesco had provided two updates on the progress of the tunnel and financial support to affected passengers and businesses.
She added that a detailed investigation was still under way.
Meanwhile, city councillors and residents have lodged complaints over Tesco’s plans to extend a proposed store in Carlisle, Cumbria. The retailer was granted permission for a 40,000 sq ft store in the Viaduct Estate area last year but has since extended its plans to a
71,000 sq ft store on stilts with a car park underneath it (The Grocer, July 9, p16).
Residents in Norfolk have also formed a coalition to fight the opening of a Tesco Express in Norwich. Residents Against Unthank Tesco group says that the proposed store on Unthank Road will increase traffic.
Controversy also continues at the new Extra store in Slough, Berkshire. The Borough Council had to change the sequencing of a new set of traffic lights on the A4 after 17,000 people visiting on the opening day on August 1 brought traffic to a standstill.
Meanwhile, councillors in St Albans, Hertfordshire, are claiming that Tesco has failed to act on plans for a new store for more than 18 months. They claim that the site Tesco bought is boarded up and decaying.
Residents in Kew, Surrey, have also been left disgruntled after Tesco installed a shopfront, cash machine and disabled ramp without planning permission. A new application has now been approved by Richmond upon Thames Council.
Beth Brooks
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