Traders have accused Croydon Council of "favouring big businesses" after a car park closed to make way for a new supermarket.

Coulsdon businesses voiced fears the loss of the 223-space Lion Green Road car park, which shut on Sunday, would drive customers away.

The bulk of the council-owned land will be used to build a Waitrose food store, which will replace the retailer's smaller shop in Brighton Road.

The development, scheduled for completion in 2017, will also house a health centre and a new home for 1st Coulsdon Scouts.

The closure left Coulsdon town centre with no long-stay parking and far fewer short-stay places, prompting warnings of damage to local shops.

Chris Knowles, 29, a sales consultant at Park and Bailey estate agents in Brighton Road, said: "The main concern is that parking is going to become a real issue in town centre and it is going to drive people away. 

"There's a general feeling that Croydon Council is favouring big businesses over local commerce."

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Lion Green Road car park closed on Sunday

The council said it was considering letting drivers use the 30-space car park at the Calat centre in Chipstead Valley Road for temporary medium-stay parking, but it had not done so when work began on the Lion Green Road site on Monday.

Richard Thurbon, acting chair of the Coulsdon Residents and Business Forum, said: "There's no way the Calat centre could absorb all that parking. It is not even nearly the same size and it has one small entrance as they don't want the main entrance to be used."

Chris Philp, Croydon South MP, suggested the council should remove on-street parking restrictions while during the work. 

He said: "This will cause complete parking chaos in Coulsdon and will seriously damage businesses whose customers and staff will not be able to park.

"The council needs to take urgent action to find alternative spaces."

Coun Kathy Bee, cabinet member for transport, said: "The redevelopment of Lion Green Road car park is a major part of the regeneration of Coulsdon town centre.

"While we acknowledge that the closure of the car park may cause inconvenience to some motorists, there are alternative parking options available nearby, and we are working on providing more spaces."

The new Waitrose will have 190 short-stay parking spaces.

More than 400 people objected to the development before it was approved by the council in April last year, while three seperate petitions were signed by 1,254 people.

A council spokesman said: “Although there are still around 240 public parking spaces in Coulsdon town centre, we’re working to make even more available to local shoppers and businesses in the very near future, both at the CALAT car park and on nearby streets.

"We will be updating local businesses on progress in the next few weeks.”

Driving to Coulsdon? Click here to find alternative car parks