Petition to bring popular Midhurst car wash back rakes in signatures

The petition was set up on Friday (December 11) by concerned resident Diana Mackay after a popular car wash company was told it could not return when the former Budgen's site was taken over by Sainsbury's.

Residents rejoiced at the launch of the supermarket in November but the opening was marred for some who were saddened to see that Johnny's car wash company, which had set up in the car park more than nine years ago, was no longer there.

When residents first raised their concerns with this newspaper, a spokesman for Sainsbury's responded saying it was ensure there was 'adequate parking' for customers.

Diana Mackay said: "I set it up because Johnny has been there for nine years and built up his business with a wife and family to support but has had the rug pulled out from under him for no good reason."

The new Sainsbury's site would benefit from Johnny's return 'without a shadow of a doubt', Diana said, "Everybody has said they would be mad not to have him back."

At the time of writing, the petition has garnered 254 signature which, in three days, is half way to the petition's target.

Diana said of the response from members of the public: "It's absolutely brilliant — I am really grateful, we just need to keep going now."

Fatmir Sinani, known by many of his customers as Johnny said he is 'so grateful' for the support of the community after seeing the number of signatures increase every day.

"It's really good. I didn't think it would be that amount of people — it's going up and up everyday. It's great, but let's see what Sainsbury's have to say."

Anyone wishing to sign the petition has been asked to ensure to verify their email address after signing up.

A spokesman for Sainsbury's said: “We have tried to work with Mr Sinani to find a suitable location on our site though unfortunately we haven’t been able to. We must also ensure our customers can find a car space to do their shopping as quickly and safely as possible, especially in the lead up to Christmas.

"We will continue to keep the car park under review and will be in touch with Mr Sinani if there are any opportunities in the future.”