BOSSES at the Waitrose store in Wellington are expecting the number of customers shopping in the store to drop.

The company has applied for planning permission for parking area for two delivery vans along with charging points at the supermarket in Red Lion Court.

Waitrose wants to remove a section of wall in the car park area and replace it with fencing to form the van parking area, as well as a refuse bin store.

If approved by Somerset West and Taunton Council, the development would lead to the loss of one customer parking space, while the existing clothes recycling container would be relocated.

A statement accompanying the application says: "The increased provision of home delivery van parking will have the principal benefit to Waitrose of reducing the amount of customers using cars to access the store while still retaining their custom.

"The parking layout to accommodate delivery vans will result in a net loss of one parking space in this localized run of parking bays. (Total parking is 138 spaces excluding delivery van parking. The number of DDA and parent and child spaces remains the same).

"The uplift in home delivery service provided by the increase in van parking offsets the reduced parking for customers and reflects the current online shopping trend.

"This ultimately results in less customers driving to the store and reduced car parking demand."