AN independent watchdog has ticked off Worcester City Council for how it handled an objector over the £20 million Waitrose store - criticising it on "transparency" grounds.

In July last year the planning committee gave the green light to the superstore for a massive outlet off London Road.

But one householder backing onto the site, whose identity has not been revealed, complained to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) over it.

The resident, known as 'Mr B' in an official report, wanted to object to the development on several grounds and attend the meeting in person to address councillors.

The man was not told about the date of the meeting by planning officers, which the inspector said was a "fault" by the council.

An LGO investigator examined an email trail between council staff and the resident, and said the council's transparency over telling him when the meeting was should have been better.

The householder also flagged up concerns about a key highways report which detailed the likely impact the new Waitrose would have on congestion, saying it was only presented to councillors on the day of the actual meeting.

On that point, the inspector said the planning committee could have postponed its decision to allow more time to consider the report's contents, but found no fault in the councillors for choosing not to.

The man also complained about an 'air quality assessment', which has been changed on the day of the meeting because Worcestershire Regulatory Services decided to use a different method to calculate the impact on the environment.

In response to that, the LGO investigator ruled that the planning committee was within its rights to read it on the day of the decision and press on with a vote.

But the investigator did criticise the council for only putting the highways comments on its own website four months after the decision was made - and ticked them off for not publishing the air quality assessment at all.

The council has also been told to make it clearer on its website as to when planning applications are likely to be voted on by the committee, for people looking to attend.

In conclusion, the LGO report said there was "fault by the council in the transparency of the consideration of the planning application".

But it also states that it would not have made any difference to the end decision, which was to allow the Waitrose to be built.

The high-end supermarket is currently building its 40,000 square foot store on the site of the old Ebenezer Baylis print works.

It is due to open in the spring of 2016.