SAINSBURY'S has promised to act after being accused of bringing rats to a residential area.

People living near the firm's store in Blackfen Road, Blackfen, complained to Bexley Council nearly a year ago about the company's practice of dumping out-of-date food at the back of its shop, which is part of the Shell garage.

Residents claim nothing has been done and piles of discarded food can still be found dumped outside.

As a result, rats and other animals are being attracted to the free supply of food in increasing numbers.

Last summer, Shell applied for planning permission to serve petrol 24 hours a day.

Residents objected and one, Daniel Kirby, told Bexley's planning committee piles of unsold food from Sainsbury's was left stacked by the car wash.

At the time, committee chairman Councillor Tonya Kelsey promised to ask the council's environmental health department to investigate the food.

But two weeks ago, another resident took photographs of food still being piled outside the shop.

Bexley Council's environmental health department denied it had received any complaints about discarded food at Blackfen Road.

It says its planning enforcement team was dealing only with outstanding landscaping and general storage issues which were now being sorted out.

A spokesman for Sainsbury's admitted to News Shopper: "Outdated food was being left outside the shop but this has now been totally cleared up.

"Environmental health has given us a clean bill of health."

Claiming the photographed food was "a one-off incident" she added discarding food outside its shops was "not common practice. As far as I am aware this was a one-off incident".

She promised: "We will make sure it doesn't happen again or cause inconvenience to residents."