Angry commuters have criticised a leading supermarket for withdrawing their dedicated parking spaces.

The Safeway supermarket, which was recently acquired by the Morrisons Group, near to Witham railway station has been used by nearly 100 rail commuters for parking while they are at work.

The users pay £30 a month each for the opportunity to park their vehicles then join rail services on the London to Norwich mainline.

But from Sunday, the supermarket will be stopping this service, with Friday the last day for the majority of commuters.

David Bigg, chairman of the Witham and Braintree Rail Users Association, said: "It's going to seriously inconvenience commuters and have a knock-on effect to streets in the surrounding area.

"The effect on local residential areas could be quite catastrophic. Over time streets will become clogged up. It will certainly be a time to be afraid of Friday the 13th for us commuters."

A spokesman for the Morrisons Group, said: "Only a small number of Safeway stores, maybe one or two, do this and no Morrisons stores do.

"We've stopped the commuter parking at Witham as we expect more people to use the store now."

Published Tuesday August 10, 2004

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