SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has been slammed over large amounts of rubbish blighting the local area from its main Evesham store.
Resident Charles White, who lives near the Worcester Road supermarket, said he had an ongoing battle because of quantities of plastic packaging blowing from the back of the store. This, he said, ended up littering the surrounding area and vegetation near the River Avon.
Mr White said he had picked up more than 40 bin bags of litter over the last two months – mostly on walks by the river and behind Tesco.
And he said he had twice approached the store’s management to highlight the problem and was reassured a message would be passed onto waste management sub-contractors who would clean the property more thoroughly.
But, he told the Observer, this had not happened.
“I have no faith that Tesco will clean their property, or if they do, that they’ll do a thorough job.”
Mr White acknowledged not all the litter he had picked up was down to Tesco, but added most of it stemmed from there.
“Obviously this isn’t all their fault, as people are buying their products and littering of their own accord.
“However, what I think is their fault, is that litter on their property is rolling down and being blown down the hill, behind their property into the wildlife.
“Behind Tesco is miles of field, river and trees. This is being contaminated by Tesco.
“Some of the litter is so old the plastic is disintegrating when I try to pick it up and is under piles of leaves.”
He said he believed Tesco was breaking environmental protection laws which place a duty of care on organisations to stop litter leaving their property.
Mr White has also reported the persistent littering through Wychavon District Council’s portal in a bid to get the problem resolved.
A spokesperson from Tesco’s head office told the Observer the company was aware of the issue.
They added they were sorry to hear about the problem and claimed they worked hard to keep all their stores and outside areas looking clean and tidy.
“We continue to work to ensure the area around our Evesham, Worcester Road Superstore, is tidy, and we regularly check for litter around the store.”
They added the team inspected the area this week to ensure there was no litter build up in the areas around the store on Tesco-owned land.
And they said they had also requested the nearby steep bank, not owned or maintained by Tesco, to be cleared with the specialist equipment needed.
Tesco, which self-reported a £3.1billion operating profit in 2025, stated on its website it had a commitment to protecting climate and nature and did so through its six pillar ‘Planet Plan’.
