ANGRY councillors have lambasted retail giant Tesco for installing cooling equipment blamed for keeping neighbours awake before asking for permission.

The firm applied to Tendring Council for retrospective permission for the CO2 gas coolers at its Tesco Express store in High Street, Manningtree.

The application, which is in the town’s conservation area, was unanimously rejected when it went before the council’s planning committee on Tuesday.

The company said an assessment concluded noise associated with the equipment would be below background noise levels.

But resident Mandy Rose, speaking at the meeting on behalf of more than 30 residents in Stour Street and St Michael’s Court, said: “We’ve all been adversely affected by Tesco’s recently installed large air conditioning unit, which was done without prior consultation with residents or planning permission.

“We are not nimbys, we’re all regular users of Tescos and love living in the centre of a wonderful community in a vibrant town.

“But we couldn’t believe our neighbours would do something like this without consultation.

“The unit is often referred to as a ‘frog box’ because it is ugly and croaks.

“It’s loudest in the summer when people are outdoors and have their windows open.

“When the boosters kick in it ramps up to a higher level on a summers night and wakes us all up."

She called for the "industrial galvanised trunking and black cables" to be removed.

Ward councillor Carlo Guglielmi said the “incongruous” gas coolers are not suitable in a conservation area and would "ruin people’s lives".

“What is upsetting is they boldly went ahead and installed it without permission and without consultation with anyone,” he said.

“Tesco have the financial ability to employ specialist consultants to get advice on a more acceptable solution than just plonking a monstrosity in the heart of a conservation area – in the full knowledge that it was not allowed.

Councillor Jeff Bray added: “I’m disappointed a big company like Tesco put this in before asking us if they could – and they compounded that by making no attempt to be represented at the planning meeting – it feels like they thumbed their nose at us."