Tesco store in Cambridge 'on verge of receiving 'asbo' from City Council'

Councillors are deliberating over whether to impose a community protection notice on the supermarket after it failed to clear litter when repeatedly asked

A Tesco in Cambridge may be given a new-look Asbo for not clearing litter (Getty)

A Tesco store in Cambridge is close to being slapped with a community protection notice (CPN) – formerly an Asbo – after it reportedly riled the council for not clearing litter in a fence.

The superstore on Newmarket Road was accused by a councillor of continually ignoring requests to clear up the rubbish that had accrued on its grounds.

According to Cambridge News, in a council meeting this week Peter Roberts, Cambridge City Council’s Executive Councillor for Waste, Environment & Public Health, told attendees: “We are potentially pursuing a community protection notice against Tesco.

“Tesco in Abbey has had a new fence and it’s basically just rammed with rubbish. We’ve asked several times they clean their ground as part of the agreement they have with us as the city authority and they continually, despite their claims otherwise, carry on just leaving it.”

Tesco has been contacted by The Independent for comment.

Community protection notices are a re-branding of the previous anti-social behaviour orders (abos), giving local authorities, police and social landlords the power to issue orders to curb behaviour that negatively affects the community.

Government officials say the changes have “streamlined” the application process, and while a civil issue, if the orders are breached they can result in a two-year prison sentence for adult individual or a £20,000 fine or businesses. These measures also affect the owners of nuisance or vicious dogs.

Cllr George Owers added in the meeting: “Tesco, to me, are the only organisation or business in Cambridge who persistently allow this to happen on their grounds and never clean it up.

“I hope the expanded enforcement team will look at using their increased resources to talk more to businesses, all kinds of businesses where we have similar problems, and if they persistently ignore us, use this power more widely than just Tesco.”

A Tesco spokesman told the newspaper: “We are working closely with the city council to tidy up the site.

“Contractors will be visiting the site shortly to undertake the necessary works and we will continue to monitor the situation on an ongoing basis.”