The battle between supermarket giants Tesco and Morrisons will be fought in front of councillors at a meeting on Monday next week.

The Morrisons plan has been given a recommendation of refusal by planning officers based on the impact of increased traffic on surrounding local roads.

It is the second time the Morrisons plan, which includes a Premier Inn, new homes and a series of improvements to the site next to Hillingdon station in Long Lane, has been recommended for refusal.

It was due to be seen by the Major Planning Applications Committee along with a competing plan for a Tesco on the former Master Brewer site in October, but both plans were taken off the agenda at the last minute so that supporting documents submitted late in the day could be looked at by councillors.

The Tesco plan includes the supermarket, hotel and various non-food retail units, as well as a separate plan to build five four and five storey blocks of flats on the site. Both of those plans have been approved by officers ahead of next week’s meeting.

Ickenham Residents’ Association have written letters of objection to both amended plans. Chairman Humphrey Tizard said: “Our main objection is the impact both stores will have on traffic and pollution. The area they are proposed for is an Air Quality Management Area which means it’s already exceeding the pollution quotas for the European Union.

“We looked in detail at the Tesco proposal and it says it would not be able to cater for the amount of traffic. To the credit of Tesco since their last application in 2004 they have significantly modified their scheme so that it is not the huge over development it was before, whereas the current Morrisons plan is.

“Whatever is built there should not make a significant impact on traffic.”

Matthew Thomas, planning director for Bride Hall, Morrisons agent, said people were in favour of its plan over Tesco.

“We feel that we have got the better plan with bigger support in the community,” he said. “We feel that people want to see a Morrisons come to the area.

“It would help in terms of offering people more choice and competition to keep prices down.

“Tesco’s plan includes changing the traffic light system in Long Lane which will mean it takes much longer for pedestrians to cross the road there, increasing the time by up to a minute.”

Mr Tizard also raised concerns about this increased crossing time. He said: “The longer it takes people to cross a road the more likely they are to ignore the traffic light system and cross when they see a chance, not when the light turns green. That could be very dangerous - especially for young children.”

But a spokesman for Tesco argued a lot of time has been spent listening to local people to address traffic issues: “We are proposing a smaller store which will attract far fewer cars than Morrisons and ultimately means less traffic to the area.

“We are confident our development will bring considerable benefit to the area. We look forward to the committee’s decision next week.”

Both stores promise to create hundreds of jobs for local unemployed people, with 350 jobs created by Morrisons and 200 by Tesco.

The plans go head to head at the council’s Major Planning Applications Committee meeting at the Civic Centre in High Street, Uxbridge on December 2 at 7pm.