WELLINGTON town councillors were divided over proposed extended delivery hours for the Waitrose supermarket off High Street at their February meeting but eventually agreed to support them.

They also decided to write to the manager of the store about alleged breaches of delivery times – either very early in the morning or late at night – after being told that he had said he was unaware of complaints made to councillors by nearby residents.

The council agreed to inform Taunton Deane Borough Council that it was in favour of the store delivery times being amended from 8am to 8pm to 7am to 11pm.

Cllr Peter Critchard was strongly against the changes.  “We are talking about people’s lives,” he said. “We should stick to what we got for the people of the area. We fought hard to get the delivery times right. We have problems already.”

Cllr Gary James said other supermarkets in the town had their deliveries at reasonable times, so why not Waitrose. Why did Waitrose need to have its deliveries late at night?

Cllr John Thorne said there had been many breaches of the delivery times but no enforcement action had been taken by the Deane.

Cllr Andy Govier said he thought the amended delivery times were acceptable.  He suggested contacting the manager about delivery problems as it would be quicker than enforcement action.

Planning officer Darren Addicott said the Deane’s enforcement officer was aware of the breaches and had spoken to the store about these.

It was agreed by eight votes to four to recommend Taunton Deane approve the amended delivery schedule. The Deane will making the final decision.