ANGER is brewing over the prospect of a coffee drive thru on already gridlocked roads which are 'pure hell' for people living nearby. 

The proposal for a coffee drive thru at Elgar Retail Park in Blackpole, Worcester, continues to cause anger among people who live close by as a city councillor calls on developers to go back to the drawing board.

Cllr Jill Desayrah wants Worcestershire County Council to measure traffic right outside the entrance so people can see just how bad the congestion in Blackpole really is.

Worcester News: POPULAR: KFC in Elgar Retail Park in Blackpole has a drive thru and the new coffee shop would add yet another very close by which some residents fear will be open 24 hours POPULAR: KFC in Elgar Retail Park in Blackpole has a drive thru and the new coffee shop would add yet another very close by which some residents fear will be open 24 hours (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

One resident, Matt Brown of Salters Close, said the roads are already heavily congested and any new drive thru will make things worse again.

Meanwhile, the 60-year-old has now revealed he has intervened several times to stop his lurcher, Buzz, chasing rats in the retail park and fears this will get worse with another outlet.

"It's also terrible for gulls," he said and has also seen antisocial behaviour, including drivers performing 'doughnuts'. 

The application for the drive thru, rumoured to be a new Starbucks, seeks approval for 'unrestricted trading hours' which has led to concerns from residents about noise, especially as some say they are already disturbed by the tannoy from KFC.

READ MORE: Coffee drive thru at Elgar Retail Park - anger mounts

READ MORE: Elgar Retail Park drive thru coffee shop 'must be stopped'

Cllr Jill Desayrah, the city councillor for Warndon, went door-to-door to further gauge the strength of the opposition to the proposal which has yet to come before planners at Worcester City Council for a decision.

She also intends to speak against it when the plans are discussed by the planning committee. 

Cllr Desayrah, who called in the plans for further scrutiny rather than have them dealt with under delegated powers, said: “The residents of Masons Drive and surrounding roads are absolutely at the end of their tethers, totally fed up of being ignored when new businesses are added to the Elgar Retail Park.

"The traffic congestion is pure hell now and any plan to add to that will only make things worse. Regulation SWDP21 mandates that “no significant adverse effect on neighbouring amenity” must arise from any planned building.

"This alone should scupper the drive through coffee shop application. But even if this plan is turned down, and I hope it is, the long-suffering residents are still saddled with becoming prisoners in their own Closes and Drives at peak traffic times.

"The current mandated traffic monitoring totally misses the point by only measuring the retail park entrance. I’ve asked the county council to ensure the applicant installs traffic monitoring equipment along the section of Blackpole Road close to the Elgar Retail Park entrance and Masons Drive. This will give quantification to the complaints that blight so many lives right now.”

The proposed scheme would result in a loss of 35 spaces, although 11 additional spaces would be provided elsewhere within the car park leading to an overall loss of 24 spaces.

The plans, submitted by Legal and General Assurance (Pensions Management) Limited, have yet to come before the planning committee.