People living in Ealing Green have criticised Tesco for claiming to have consulted on a store possibly coming to the area.

A statement issued by Tesco earlier this month said: “We have been in consultation with the community about our new store in St Mary’s Road since May and are still committed to the location.

“Our application has been submitted and we await a decision from council planning officers who we understand are currently in discussions with the highways team. Once we receive approval, we can continue with plans for the construction and building of the store.”

Andy Long, 54, of nearby Cairn Avenue, speaking on behalf of several neighbours, said: “Tesco has publicly claimed they have been consulting. This is completely untrue. Tesco or their agents may have had pre-application meetings with the planning department, but these were behind closed doors.

“The fact that Tesco’s name has been left off the applications on the website, the fact that the original notifications (which few received) also did not mention Tesco and the fact that there has been no attempt to provide essential information, even during the consultation period, demonstrates the true picture.”

A Tesco spokesman said: “Our statement still stands as it is.”

Tesco claim their application was open, honest and transparent and say they did letter drops in the immediate surrounding area. 

They said it is standard practice for the council not to specify who the applicant is on planning letters to residents.

Tesco also said they are more than happy to discuss concerns with anyone who contacts them.

Ealing Council received a planning application on August 12 from Mathew and Alemnesh Demetri and Tesco Stores Limited to extend an existing commercial space in St Mary’s Road with change of use to a residential unit at the back.

The initial consultation deadline the council gave was October 10 which has been extended to tomorrow (October 31) and the council will accept comments until a decision is made.

The reference numbers for these applications is PP/2014/4452 and PP/2014/4453.