ASDA, Weymouth, has been refused permission to make and receive deliveries from its Newstead Road store at all times.

The company say that 24-hour deliveries, which it has been doing since March, have not generated any complaints - although  two ward councillors say there has been problems and more than a dozen residents objected to the proposed changes.

Dorset Council has now rejected the application and says the store must return to the loading and unloading of goods vehicles between 7am and 10pm daily.

Asda argued that without the permanent change to 24-hour operations it would be under pressure to deal with the increase in home deliveries and in-store sales generated by the Covid pandemic.

It says this has been a ‘marked increase’ in demand since the pandemic started which has put a strain on supply chains.

Since March 2020 the Government has allowed deliveries to all supermarkets 24-7 which has helped the flow of goods.

ASDA said it wanted to formally change the hours at the Weymouth store to continue what it has already been doing with Government approval.

An agent’s letter said that there has been no formal complaints made about the change in its operations and nothing to indicate that anyone has been disturbed by the 24-hour deliveries over almost the past year.

But local councillors Ryan Hope and Gill Taylor said there has been problems – despite the claims by Asda.

Said Cllr Hope: “I have received numerous complaints from residents due to the disturbance caused by overnight deliveries to the store. These have been noted with environmental heath directly by residents.”

Cllr Gill Taylor says she too has received complaints which she says were forwarded, by her, to the company.

She says the noise was of particular concern in the summer when residents had their windows open at night: “The complaint I had came from one resident in Marsh Road who spoke about the effect this was having on herself and spoke on behalf of her neighbours who had made similar comments to her. The loading area is very close to the houses in Marsh Road and while the 24-hour nature of the store being open to the public will not affect them, loading and unloading between 11:00pm and 7:00am will have an adverse effect,” she said.

Asda offered to change deliveries to the front of the store to limit the effect on Marsh Road residents but Dorset Council officers said that was likely to then have an effect on residents of Weston Road and Harbour Lights Court.

Said a council report: “There is a strong possibility that any number of deliveries, including from just a single delivery, would cause a noise nuisance to neighbouring properties. While the removal of delivery times may be acceptable for many store locations in more remote areas, stores such as this one, which is near residential properties are likely to be heavily impacted by the removal of this condition.”