The owners of a burger van less than 500 yards from where Ashford's fourth McDonald’s will be built say they are not worried about the competition but do fear it will cause traffic “pandemonium”.

Controversial plans for the 24-hour drive-thru restaurant were approved for land next to the notoriously congested ‘tank roundabout’ off Chart Road earlier this month.

Tracey Crockford and Joanne Weston, who have been running the nearby TJ’s burger van on the Cobbs Wood industrial estate for three years, say even though the entrance would be on Bridge Road, a less busy route, that will not make a difference to the traffic.

“People think we’re having a go because it will affect our business, but we are established now and nothing will change that,” Ms Crockford said.

“It doesn’t matter what restaurant it is, it’s the location and the traffic that’s the issue because it’s already bad enough.”

Ms Weston, whose van is based outside VJ Technology, added: “Even with the entrance at the back (in Bridge Road), people have to get to it from the roundabout so it will still be pandemonium.

“It’s 1.2 miles away from the McDonald’s Junction 9. How many do they want?”

Tom Lyne, manager at Formula One Autocentre in Brunswick Road, agrees but also shares concerns about litter.

“There is already litter all over the place and wherever there is a restaurant like that it’s bad,” he said.

“We have had customers struggle to get in and out and this will make it worse for business.

“I would have preferred a Burger King because it tastes better.”

In response, McDonald’s says the new restaurant will be equipped with indoor and outdoor recycling facilities and staff will conduct a minimum of three daily litter picks to collect all rubbish, not just McDonald’s branded packaging, in the area.

Elsewhere on the Cobbs Wood estate, Screwfix assistant manager Jessica Smith feels people will favour Ashford’s three other McDonald’s stores in the high street, Orbital Park and Eureka Park because of accessibility.

“In the last few weeks alone there have been two accidents so it might cause more,” she said.

“I think people will avoid the McDonald’s and go to the other ones because of the traffic – sometimes it can take you 20 minutes to get out down the road.”

Ben Heath, showroom manager at Easy Bathrooms and Tiles, says his only concern is traffic, adding “it’s a busy enough roundabout as it is”.

“In terms of business, I don’t think it will affect us, but in terms of getting in and out work, it will,” he said.

“Having the entrance at the back rather than at the front is definitely better.”

Matt Bissonnette, from Westwell Lane, often visits the estate a couple of times each week but fears getting anywhere near it while roadworks are underway will be ‘impossible’.

The 48-year-old said: “I don’t even think it will bring extra customers to the businesses because of the nature of them being trade.

“The upgrades to the road will cause so much upheaval and congestion, it’s going to become a no-go area.

“For people who have houses and want to get planning permission for something simple, sometimes they really struggle, and now they’ve gone and approved something like this?”

The restaurant will also have an outdoor play area on the patio and will create 65 jobs.

Including two disabled spots, there will be 53 parking spaces as well as 14 cycle bays.

A spokesman for McDonald’s said: “We strive to be a good neighbour in the communities we serve.

“We firmly believe we can have a positive impact in this area including the creation of at least 65 full and part time jobs for local people.

“We pride ourselves on the positive contributions we make in communities and we proudly operate our business in a responsible way, beneficial to those in the surrounding areas.”

The spokesman said it is not clear when work will start on the restaurant, or when it will open.

The plans, submitted by WPB Contractors, were approved by Ashford Borough Council planning officers and did not go to committee.

Initially, the application for the 136-seater restaurant was submitted in September 2020 but was withdrawn four months later while further highways discussions were held with Kent County Council (KCC).

They were then resubmitted with two amendments.

'We strive to be a good neighbour in the communities we serve...'

These included making the roundabout entrance from Templer Way wider and moving a pedestrian crossing on Chart Road further down to improve traffic flow and “allow the existing two to one lane merge to be pushed further away from the roundabout”.

Eighteen people still objected with several commenting on the loss of green space.

However, the planning officer explained this was not grounds for refusal as the land is not classed as green space, instead it’s an “undeveloped parcel of land within the urban area which has low level of amenity value”.

The stretch of Chart Road between the ‘tank’ and Matalan roundabouts is set to become a dual carriageway, but the £26m scheme is not expected to be completed until 2024 as developers building the Chilmington Green housing estate are yet to stump up a security bond.