Budgens car wash ordered to close

It reopened in April 2007, and unheeded warnings from the council since have resulted in the authority's West Area Planning committee ordering it to close when they met last week.

The car wash, which operates under the name Soponajk, now has three months before it must shut unless the store can obtain planning permission to keep it open.

Doris Stone, of Staines Road, said: "I shall finally rest in peace when they shut down that dreadful racket. The last few years have been unbearable with the shouting and the machinery going from dawn until dusk.

"I just assumed they were allowed to carry on like that so I was amazed to find out that they weren't. It seems these big companies think they can just do what they like."

Cllr Barbara Harris, who sits on the West Area Planning Committee, added: "Just because it's a supermarket, why shouldn't they have to follow the same laws as the man on the street.

"The noise has been a real problem for the neighbours. You have the spray going and the vacuum going all day and they are open seven days a week so the neighbours have no respite."

However, Ian Laslett, who manages the store, said people had got the wrong end of the stick in associating the supermarket with corporate greed.

Budgens operates a franchise system and the Staines Road branch is one of three owned by a small company trying to break even.

Mr Laslett said: "This store is just about breaking even so for us it is important to look for every opportunity to bring people into the store and away from the bigger supermarkets. The car wash could make the difference between us shutting or staying open."