Tesco confronted on safety issues

Cllr Coleman, the deputy leader of West Sussex County Council, has arranged a meeting with the retail giant to express his dismay at the continuing safety concerns around its convenience stores.

The face-to-face session will take place with a senior manager from the company at a date this monthyet to be arranged.

The main issue to be addressed at the meeting is the number of large lorries which deliver to the Tesco Express outlets in Pagham Road and Aldwick Road.

These vehicles are frequently parked in the roads because of a lack of space around the stores. At Pagham, the size of the lorries means the drivers can find it difficult to get through the access into the forecourt car park.

The stores' popularity also means a constant stream of customers drive to and from the premises every day of the week.

Cllr Coleman, who represents Nyetimber on the council, said: 'Tesco has got to get the message to sort out their deliveries to their stores, otherwise there is going to be a serious accident.

'If you get behind one of their lorries parked on the road, and you pull out to go round it, that is not a nice place to be in the middle of the road if there is a car coming towards you.'

He pledged he would see improvements made before he would stop pressing Tesco for action. 'I am not going to let up on this issue. I will continue to be on their back all the time if this problem goes on,' he told Pagham's annual parish meeting on Tuesday.

Cllr Coleman has invited fellow county councillor Robin Brown, in whose electoral division Tesco's Aldwick Road branch is sited, to join him at the meeting. Cllr George Blampied (Felpham), the chairman of the Joint Western Arun area committee of parish, district and county councils, will be present as well. It is also expected a representative of the police will attend.

The meeting follows Cllr Coleman's outburst about Tesco at the committee's last meeting in March. He told fellow members he had tried many times to get a response from Tesco to the widespread concerns about traffic conditions.

'But after several months of just plain rude silence I have finally lost my patience,' he complained.

A parking ban between 7am and 9am and from 6pm to 8pm Mondays to Saturdays along the western 20 metres of a layby in front of the Aldwick Road branch has been introduced to provide space for the lorries to park.

Cllr Coleman said his talks with other councillors had shown that the success of Tesco Express stores was causing difficulties around Sussex.

'We are not the only ones experiencing problems. The delivery trucks have just got bigger and bigger. Tesco are in life to make money. They do a good job and people use them but we have to get something about this issue sorted out,' he added.

Tesco has also come under pressure to install traffic lights with a pedestrian crossing outside its Shripney Road superstore. The company has agreed to put in the traffic control system for northbound vehicles after a series of accidents between motorists leaving the premises and vehicles along the main road.

An elderly pedestrian, Emilia Wilkins (77), was killed there on November 28 last year. The driver involved, Dmitrijs Jasvins, was jailed for seven months.

A petition started by local resident Michael Jones and town councillor Roger Nash demanding the crossing's installation has attracted more than 500 signatures.