DESPITE concerns about the impact on local residents, Morrisons in Hawick has been given permission for deliveries to take place from 5am on weekdays.
Councillors agreed to the one-year trial, which will also enable lorries to deliver to the store up until 11pm.
The company claimed an original planning condition restricting deliveries to between 7am and 10pm was ‘compromising’ deliveries and led to restocking during opening hours.
No objections had been received to the application, but a number of councillors were concerned that earlier deliveries would disturb nearby residents and that the original condition had been put in place for that very reason.
Morrisons has said it will operate a ‘Quiet Delivery Scheme’ which will mean refrigeration units will be switched off just before lorries arrive in Earl Street and that the engines will not run during unloading.