A NEW supermarket could wipe out existing businesses on a busy shopping parade and be a magnet for anti-social behaviour, traders have warned.

Retail giant Sainsbury’s looks set to take over the Gray Bros hardware store in The Broadway, Woodford Green, and has applied for a licence to sell alcohol from 6am until midnight, seven days a week.

But shopkeepers who have been on the Broadway for decades have joined forces to oppose the application, which is now in the hands of Redbridge Council.

Chris Tomkis, 55, owns Kistrucks Bakeries which has operated from the site since 1954.

He said: “There is a chemists, a bakery and a post office and we feel that could be destroyed if a supermarket is allowed to open up.

“I expect a lot of my business to go, but I feel powerless to fight it. They have muscle we simply do not have.

“To allow Sainsbury’s there will destroy more than it creates. When they arrived in South Woodford with a 17 checkout store, 14 businesses closed.”

Traders also fear the new supermarket will sell cut-price alcohol, which will tempt their shoppers away and encourage local teenagers to drink on street corners.

Rajan Madlani, 55, of Jay Jay Stores, said: “There are already 12 other off-licences in this post code. Does the area really need yet another?

“Most of the trouble round here is alcohol-related so we don’t need people being able to get more drink later.

“It would kill the character of the high street, and I certainly fear that I will go out of business.”

He added that shortly before Christmas, drunken youths kicked in his front door and stole his tip jar.

A Sainsbury’s spokesman said “In our experience, a Sainsbury’s Local can help to support the vibrancy of local high streets.”

The licensing hearing will take place on Thursday, February 10. For the result go to guardian-series.co.uk.