Fight against Tesco expansion

Tesco is facing what is set to be the biggest protest yet over the relentless pace of its expansion in London.

The chain is putting the final touches to plans for a £150million development in Tolworth, where campaigners warn the superstore will "sound a death knell" for local shops. The formal planning bid for the store and up to 900 homes is expected within months.

Tesco would enter into partnership with a property developer to build the homes around the store. Tesco, which controls almost 30 per cent of Britain's grocery market, is also developing superstores with housing in Streatham, Clapham South and Dartford.

Residents' groups fear Tesco's Tolworth scheme will mean gridlock at the A3 roundabout and kill off independent shops in Tolworth Broadway. The firm already has a superstore two miles away at New Malden and a 24-hour Tesco Express at a nearby garage. There is also a large food Marks & Spencer in Tolworth and an Asda superstore further up the A3.

Tesco bought the 13-acre former Ministry of Defence site

four years ago. Kingston-upon-Thames councillor Rolson Davies, who represents Tolworth, said: "I have very big concerns that Tesco just wants to dominate the area and that this will decimate Tolworth."

The company has indicated it will try to address many of the concerns in consultation with councillors and local Liberal Democrat MP Edward Davey.

A third of the new homes at the Tesco site would be "affordable", and green technology would make the store as environmentally sustainable as possible. The sale of the more expensive properties, and subsidies, would help pay for the cheaper "social" housing the local authority wants.

Supermarket chains increasingly offer such mixed-use schemes to persuade local authorities to grant planning permission. But residents say any hope of goodwill vanished when Tesco knocked down the Toby Jug pub on the site. Built in 1934, it was an early venue for the Rolling Stones and David Bowie first appeared as Ziggy Stardust there in 1972.

Tesco said plans could be submitted to its main board as soon as next month, with the possibility of a formal planning application by the end of March.