CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a £1 million supermarket on a pub car park in Worcester have been handed the go-ahead - despite a nearby newsagent owner saying it will "shatter" her livelihood.

A new Co-operative will open on the car park of the Goodrest Tavern, in Barker Street creating 20 new jobs after Worcester City Council's planning committee gave it the nod.

It came despite the owner of the nearby Sunsoa Convenience Store, Varinder Sunsoa, collecting around 430 names on a petition urging it to be rejected.

She said: "I've had the shop in Gillam Street for 15 years, I came from Birmingham to Worcester with my children and bought this shop because I saw the potential in it.

"In 2007 I invested so much money to make it a mini-supermarket, we've built a great relationship with the community and given our service to them for 15 years.

"I am not against the Co-op, but I am against its location, it will ruin my business, I feel my dreams will be shattered."

Under planning law though, there is nothing in place to clamp down on competition between retailers or protect independent ones.

Agent Ruth Child, speaking on behalf of site owners New River Retail, said it would help the pub survive and "has the full support of the landlord, who sees it as complementary".

"We do understand the concerns raised by Mrs Sunsoa but it is not the purpose of the planning system to regulate competition between operators," she said.

The councillors agreed, saying commercial considerations could not enter their minds.

Councillor Derek Prodger said: "We are talking about a new, small-scale convenience store which will complement the Goodrest, in fact it helps them survive."

Councillor Pat Agar said: "One has a great deal of sympathy, but it is true that we can't make a decision based on commercial considerations."

Councillor George Squires turned up to lobby for refusal, saying the noise from the Co-op, new deliveries and problems around the area with school-run parents parking at the pub will become worse.

But Ms Childs said there would only be two deliveries daily and Bob Pender, from the county council's highways team, insisted it would not lead to much "new traffic generation" as most customers will be residents walking in or drivers who pass by the site anyway.

Around 20 new jobs are being created, and 26 parking spaces will be made available for both Co-op and Goodrest Tavern visitors.