SUPERMARKET giant Tesco put an electric vehicle charging point in the car park of a Gwent store 18 months before it applied for planning permission. 

The charging point, as well flagpoles advertising the charger and an LCD display showing how to use it, have been in place at the car park of the Pontypool store since November 2021, with work to install them having started in September that year. 

But the firm, which expects to make between £1.4 to £1.8 billion operating profit this year, hadn’t obtained planning permission. It only put in the application, which cost £920 in total fees, to Torfaen Borough Council in March this year. 

The retrospective application was then approved earlier this month by the planning department which said: “The structures are limited in their appearance and are appropriate within the existing car park setting.” 

The charger is located in a parking bay in the car park near to the entrance of its Lower Bridge Street store. 

The council also granted advertising consent to the firm which said in its application the work had been “part of roll out project to install EV charges across Tesco stores in UK”. 

Tesco did not respond to request for comment.