Plans for revised opening and delivery hours for a new Asda Express in Greenwich have been refused, with a local claiming the ‘absurd’ hours would cause traffic ‘mayhem’.

The shop on Greenwich South Street had asked to open one hour earlier and close one hour later on Sundays, bringing it in line with its opening times for the rest of the week from 6am to 11pm.

The proposal also requested for deliveries to the store to be permitted to take place from 7am to 10pm every day, while Sunday hours are currently restricted from 8am to 9pm.

Planning documents said the business would expect two to three deliveries to the site each day, with the shop planning to open next month.

Planning permission for the retail unit, which was originally intended to be a Co-op, alongside the nine flats above it was granted by the authority in 2021. The topic was discussed at a planning meeting for Greenwich Council on October 22.

Labour Councillor Aidan Smith, ward councillor for Greenwich Park, said he already received complaints from residents on the street about the disruption caused by deliveries to another nearby store.

Cllr Smith said at the meeting: “[The noise could] wake residents up, keep them up and disturb their sleep.

"This section of Greenwich South Street is far narrower than the area at the bottom of Royal Hill and the noise is likely to echo off the buildings and cause more noise and be worse. Refusing these extended hours will not make this unit unviable.”

Local Jonathan Wilson, who lives opposite the proposed store, said at the meeting that he was speaking on behalf of many nearby residents who objected to the revised hours. He said lorries delivering on the street would cause ‘absolute mayhem’ in terms of noise and traffic disruption.

He said: “The existing opening hours that were in the original application are already extremely onerous and you have heard what they are. Changing to the proposed hours, in my view, is completely absurd.”

Adam Cundale, town planning manager at Asda, said the changes would not cause any harm to residential amenity or highway safety. He said that the intention of the business was for the new space to function as a convenience store, with the majority of customers walking there.

The planning manager said: “I also know from experience, and the hard way, that keeping our neighbours on board is a really important thing because our closest neighbours are quite often our best customers.”

Mr Cundale admitted that the company could have consulted further with residents before applying for the extended hours.

The planning committee voted to refuse the application on the basis that they believed the noise from earlier deliveries would have a detrimental impact on the amenity of residents on Sunday mornings.

Mr Cundale said the new Asda Express store is planned to open on November 11.