Traders have complained about a supermarket's application to open a car wash.

They say the plan by Tesco in Church Road, Hove, is another example of retail giants trampling on smaller businesses in the area.

The company has applied to Brighton and Hove City Council to extend its premises with a canopy and car wash.

Shop owners in the area have complained that the superstore is already stealing their customers and the new venture will only make matters worse.

Robbie Raggio, the owner of Hove Station Car Wash, said: "All they're doing is taking away local trade and now they're trying to crucify everybody else. I'm angry they're even considering it. The public doesn't need another car wash."

Mr Raggio said he was also concerned that the facility would take over badly needed spaces in the supermarket car park.

He said: "There's not enough parking around here as it is. There are already queues out of Tesco."

In recent years, Tesco has expanded into a large number of non-food lines such as electrical goods.

It now takes £1 of every £8 spent by UK shoppers and almost a third of all groceries are now bought in its stores.

The Church Road superstore opened in 2003, along with another outlet in nearby Eastern Road. Tesco went on to buy out many of the country's Cullens stores including one in The Droveway, which is now the sixth Tesco in Hove.

The company caused a storm of protest when it ripped original brass window frames out of its Express store in Palmeira Square.

Paul Cottingham, who has run a Cullens in Church Street for 13 years, changed the name to Cottingham's of Hove as part of a revamp to keep the store competitive.

He said: "It's just what Tesco does, isn't it? They're branching out into every avenue. They're going to take over every type of retail they can to keep moving forward. But the public of Hove do want Tesco. They voted with their feet the moment it opened - I lost a third of my customers overnight."

A spokesman for Tesco said: "I can't comment on the local situation but we listen to our customers about what services we can provide and we understand the shoppers in Hove would find a car wash helpful."

Monday, October 3, 2005