Opponents of a new Tesco store in Ashtead appeared on BBC London news after being interviewed by television crews on Wednesday.

Residents said they collected 5,000 signatures on a petition last weekend for their campaign, Save Ashtead’s Village Environment (Save).

They claimed a new Tesco store would be out of keeping with the area, and create extra traffic. What would be acceptable, they said, is a smaller store with only one entrance.

Recently they accused Tesco of misleading residents about the size of the store but the company said it was a genuine error.

A spokesman from Tesco said: “We have looked at our figures again. The reduction in the store’s size is 24 per cent rather than 32 per cent.

“This arose out of an error for which we take responsibility and apologise. This was a mistake and it was not our intention to mislead people.”

The deadline for commenting on the scheme has been extended until February 3 when it will go before the planning committee.