Co-op bosses have apologised to residents repeatedly woken up by “unacceptable” early morning deliveries - which bypass planning conditions.

Canterbury City Council approved the Cromwell Road store - which became Whitstable’s fourth Co-op when it opened last February - with the stipulation orders arrive after 7am.

But Paul Elliott, a Cromwell Road resident of 16 years, said: “For the year that the store has been open, we have continually been woken several times a week with deliveries arriving as early as 6.20am.

“It’s such a nuisance. You’re never able to have a lie-in.”

After raising the issue with the council and the Co-op, Mr Elliott, 51, found that due to a loophole, deliveries made to the pavement outside the shop are technically allowed as they fall outside of council jurisdiction.

In an email to the father-of-two, senior planning officer Graham Dorrington said: “The planning department has no jurisdiction regarding the highway or footpath and therefore, providing the store is not accepting deliveries by taking them into the store, then no action can be taken by the planning department”.

Mr Elliott said delivery vans have consequently been leaving deliveries just outside the shop doors before 7am.

“But this does not eliminate any of the sleep-disturbing noises of the door slamming, reverse beeping, lorry engine humming, shutter rolling and delivery cage scraping and rattling,” he added.

Mr Elliott said his complaints to the city council were “ignored” - a matter he has taken up with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

“I would have liked to think the council would have helped to ensure matters such as early deliveries and many other issues were dealt with quickly and fairly,” he said.

The council confirmed it has received complaints.

A spokesman said: “Our investigation revealed these were occasional bread deliveries which the store agreed to tackle. The impact of these deliveries did not warrant enforcement action and the costs to the council taxpayer associated with it.

“We have recently been in touch with the store again and reminded them of the planning condition.”

A Southern Co-op spokesman said: “We are really sorry to hear of these latest concerns as our colleagues in store have been working really hard to assist their local community.

“Since we opened, there has been some really positive feedback from customers.

“The situation around early morning deliveries has improved greatly as we have carried out a lot of work to make delivery drivers aware that we don’t accept deliveries until after 7am.

“Unfortunately there was a recent isolated incident when a delivery was made kerb-side without our colleagues being made aware - we have made it clear to drivers that this is not acceptable.”

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