TRAFFIC chaos around a busy Tesco supermarket could be solved after the company applied to extend its car park.

Fed up residents have complained about parking problems at the shop in London Road, Rayleigh, shortly after it opened in February 2012. 

The Tesco took over the site of a former off-licence. 

Shoppers using the Tesco Express store in London Road, Rayleigh, are stopping on double yellow lines and clogging up surrounding roads including nearby Vernon Avenue.

Motorists are also bumping up grass verges and parking across driveways - causing a nuisance for people living nearby.

Mark Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, campaigned with residents living around the Tesco to try to fix the problem. 

He wrote letters to Phil Clarke, the chief executive of Tesco, in a campaign which he began in March 2012 - shortly after the store opened - to raise concerns.

Residents contacted Mr Francois to raise the issue of haphazard and dangerous parking outside the store, as well as problems caused by Tesco’s own delivery lorries. Sweyne Park Ward councillors Joan Mockford and Toby Mountain also supported the campaign. 

Mr Francois says Tesco has confirmed, subject to Rochford District Council's approval, they will buy the grass area on the site and use it to extend the current car park.

Tesco also said it has consolidated deliveries so only one delivery is required per day. This should improve the current congestion caused by multiple lorries travelling to and from the site each day.

Welcoming the news, Mr Francois said: “I have seen for myself the disruption that has been caused outside the store by inadequate parking provision and the nuisance it caused my constituents who lived close by, so I am delighted that, after two years of lobbying, Tesco have finally agreed to make the necessary improvements and expand the car park at their London Road site in Rayleigh.”