BLUEPRINTS for a Tesco Express store in Frinton have been recommended for refusal.

Protesters packed into the council chamber to hear Frinton and Walton Town Council discuss the plan by Tesco and Exmax New Homes to build 13 flats and a convenience store in Walton Road.

The council received 14 letters of objection and a 14-name petition from residents in Bloom Close, who fear the three-storey development will block sunlight from their homes.

A separate petition with 2,187 signatures was also handed to the council.

Iris Johnson (Tendring First, Hamford) said: “I don’t think Tesco want to help the community in any way, shape or form.

“I think they want to make money out of selling flats.

“They want to put a Tesco in every town in the county, but we don’t want one in Frinton.”

Mrs Johnson, who is also Tendring Council’s planning portfolio holder, said she will not be sitting on the district council’s planning committee for the application, but will instead speak on behalf of the ward against the proposal.

Traders fear the store could be the death knell of independent shops in the town.