SHOPKEEPERS on a busy Worcester road are again furious after plans to build a mini-mart nearby were re-submitted.

Traders in London Road have again banded together and vowed to fight the application for a Tesco Express shop, planned for Esso's Larkhill Service Station.

"We need as many people as possible to write and complain about this," said Russell Jones, owner of Pause for Thought, the general store next to the service station.

"Tesco has already got two huge stores on this side of the river and now they want one here as well.

"Everyone is on our side. We got a petition of 1,300 signatures in two weeks last time.

"No one wants it, except Tesco."

The city council's principal planning officer Peter Yates confirmed the company has submitted altered plans for the site.

"They have handed in some revised plans, but we are disappointed, as planning officers, with how little is changed," he said.

"We really would expect something much more significantly different.

"My initial idea is that we are still going to object."

Esso maintained the development would benefit shoppers and lead to new jobs.

"Esso and Tesco understand the importance of the planning process and are fully committed to working with the planning authorities to sensitively address any local concerns," said spokesman David Eglinton.

"An alliance site is likely to employ more staff due to the wider customer-offering available at Express sites, beyond a typical service station."

Plans for the site were first submitted to Worcester City Council in April this year.

But nearby shopkeepers, concerned about their businesses and road safety, vowed to fight the proposals.

A petition of more than 1,200 signatures was gathered and handed to Worcester MP Mike Foster in protest.

If the application is given the go-ahead it will increase the size of the current site by almost four times to make way for the new store and 17 parking spaces.