SCORES of commuters will face a tricky time parking their cars in the town centre when the new Waitrose supermarket opens next Thursday.

There will be no staff parking for the 200 new employees of the store. They will have to use the already busy town centre long stay car parks. In total there are three long stay car parks, where motorists can park for up to ten hours - at the Lido Park, Friar Street, and St Andrew's Road, meaning there are 203 spaces.

A spokeswoman for Waitrose said the company had submitted an environmentally sound plan to the district council, which showed how they would encourage their staff to use methods other than driving to get to work.

But she could not say how many staff members would be on site at any particular time or how many were planning to drive to work.

She said: "We don't have any spaces for staff parking at the new Droitwich store but we encourage our partners to use public transport, bicycles or walk to work."

A spokeswoman for Wychavon District Council said: "We are not in a position to comment fully on this unless the Droitwich Spa Advertiser can provide us with facts regarding how many of Waitrose's employees will be on site at any one time and how many will be driving to work.

"If and when they let me have these figures I will be in a position to comment on the adequacies of the parking in the town.

"If after the store has been open for several months it appears there might be an issue then the district council will review its car parking position."

Waitrose was unable to give exact figures for the district council's queries.