FEARS about the dangers of juggernauts delivering to a new supermarket have been raised by St Margarets residents this week.

Lorries parking outside Tesco on the Broadway during the rush hour are said to be causing problems and the company are applying for the bay to be extended by four metres. They also want to increase the waiting time to one hour.

Residents say the proposal should be refused and that the council should enforce existing restrictions.

"If this goes through, a schoolchild is going to be seriously injured," said Nigel Cannings of Amyand Park Road.

He said lorries using the bay are already causing problems, after witnessing a lorry parked at 8.45am. "Not only was it causing major traffic congestion because of its width, but what was worse from my point of view is that it made crossing Broadway Avenue dangerous, as it was difficult to look up St Margarets Road to see if anyone was turning left."

He says that St Margarets Road is already very congested, especially in the rush hour and to allow larger vehicles to park there for longer is only going to make the situation worse.

Residents add that the pavements are blocked when the pallets are unloaded, and buses struggle to access their bus stop.

They say that any deliveries should be made by smaller vans during the day for no more than 20 minutes and ideally the loading bay should only operate between 10am and 4pm, or use big lorries out of hours.

A spokesman for Richmond upon Thames Council said: "A loading bay was installed some time ago as part of a wider traffic management scheme for the area. However, Tesco have asked for the bay to be enlarged. The council conducted a public consultation on this and, in the light of objections received, we will be reviewing the proposal, which may also include reviewing times that the bay is operational.

"In the meantime, we have asked Tesco to review their delivery procedures for the store."