A GROUP of Bewdley residents have predicted congestion in their street will become "intolerable" if the go-ahead is given to turn a nearby pub into a shop.

Twenty-four people living in Lodge Close have signed a statement given to Bewdley Town Council objecting to a bid by West Midlands Co-op to transform The Old Waggon and Horses, Kidderminster Road.

The company has bought the pub from Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries and has stressed the development would create up to 40 jobs and provide townsfolk with "the level of service they deserve".

There is already a Co-op convenience store in Bewdley town centre. A bid for planning permission for the 5,500 sq ft new store is pending.

The residents of Lodge Close, which is off Kidderminster Road, said in the statement: "Over the years, non-resident parking in Lodge Close has increased and we can foresee that the proposal will only add to the problems with traffic."

Parents come and go taking children to a nursery in the close, they said, and the pub car park also provides "overspill" places, which stand to be lost, for a nearby business.

These cars and those belonging to store customers would make congestion in Lodge Close "intolerable", they believe, adding people using a fish and chip shop which is further away than the pub already park there.

Licensee Steve Eaton, who has run the pub for the last 16 years, and his family were stunned when they were told of the pub's sale - by the Co-op.

The brewery has since apologised for this, and said it felt it had a duty to accept a "once in a decade" offer.

The plan has already been met with outrage by Bewdley town councillors amid fears it could harm town centre traders.