TESCO has been given the go-ahead to start night-time deliveries at its Musselburgh store so customers can receive online orders faster – despite objections from neighbouring residents and the town community council.

The large Tesco Extra store on Olive Bank asked East Lothian Council to change one of its original conditions, which restricted deliveries to between 7am and 11pm.

Instead, the store asked for a new delivery to be allowed at 3am to replace the current 7am one.

At a planning committee meeting this week, ward councillor Fraser McAllister, who lives beside the store, accused the supermarket chain of being an “untrustworthy applicant” as he made a representation against the changes.

Mr McAllister said lorries for the 7am delivery to Tesco often arrived early and parked on Inveresk Road, with engines and refrigeration units running outside people’s houses.

He said: “I attended a meeting with the store manager and other residents to discuss concerns on September 21; three days later, I was woken at 5.38am by a 38-ton HGV parking outside my house with the units running, waiting to enter Tesco at 7am.”

Planning officials said while they could restrict delivery onto Tesco’s site they could not stop the lorries parking on public roads.

Inveresk Road resident Ruth McHattie appealed to the council not to allow Tesco night-time deliveries. She said: “What is more important, that Tesco customers get their deliveries a little early or the wellbeing of residents?”

Tesco proposed bringing the night-time delivery to the front of the store through the customer car park to avoid Inveresk Road, but there were concerns about the noise of the large trollies being loaded off the lorry at 3am.

Mrs McHattie was asked whether she would prefer being woken by the noise of the lorries driving to the service yard, which then muted the sound of the offloading but meant using Inveresk Road, or the sound of the delivery being offloaded without the lorry going up the road.

She replied: “I’d prefer they did not deliver through the night.”

Ward councillor Stuart Currie said while he sympathised with residents affected by noise from the store, the benefits the store brought to the community, including employment, should be considered.

Musselburgh and Inveresk Community Council had objected to the application, saying it would have a detrimental effect on residents.

The committee agreed to allow the single night-time delivery but on a 12-month trial basis which would come back for review.