Residents shouted abuse at councillors last night, as they approved supermarket giant Sainsbury’s scheme to expand its Wandsworth Town store.

At its Garratt Lane site, the retailer will now build a 120-bed hotel and two five-storey extensions to expand the store by about 5,500 sq m (from 7,000sq.m. to 12,500 sq m).

The scheme is seen as an important piece of the planned £1bn regeneration of the town centre but, contentiously, plans include a multi-storey car park, which will provide a total of 450 parking spaces. Sainsbury’s will erect a “green wall” less than two metres from some residents’ gardens to mask the car park, but residents complained of loss of view and sunlight, security concerns and pollution from light and noise.

Councillor Tony Belton said regeneration was important, but moved to have the scheme refused for being “un-neighbourly” and “over scale”, a notion backed by Councillors Billi Randall and Susan John-Richards.

But Wandsworth Council’s planning application committee, despite noting concerns and applying conditions, approved the plan by eight votes to three - leaving residents shouting “rubbish” along with more colourful comments.

The committee chairman, Councillor Leslie McDonnell, said after the meeting: “The scheme would make better use of this important site and help draw more visitors to the town centre. It would create more than 200 new jobs and improve a stretch of Garratt Lane in urgent need of a facelift. It’s another important step forwarded for the town centre’s regeneration.”

Other councillors raised concerns as to whether the green wall should be made from ivy or a variety of plants.

On leaving one resident said “you are all a bunch of prats, except for those that voted against it”.