TESCO'S slogan might be Every Little Helps but according to traders in Coulsdon, this attitude doesn't extend to a spot of tidying up.
Shopkeepers in the town have accused the £2billion profit-making supermarket giant of refusing to clear up fly-tipping behind the store, which has blocked access to other independent shops on the street.
Alan Harris, who runs Coulsdon Home Hardware, and Ray Wookey, from Cycling Made Easy, have complained to the Chipstead Valley Road store's manager as well as calling the head office about the mess left at the back of the shop.
The track, which all the shops back onto and use as a delivery route, has been periodically blocked for weeks.
"We are really quite outraged," said Mr Wookey.
"Tesco have a CCTV camera out here looking over the fly-tipping and they will not cooperate by giving footage to the police."
Mr Harris said: "It's not public land so Tesco should take responsibility for it.
"They have all the money and resources to deal with something like this. I know it is not their rubbish and people have just dumped it here but we need to work together. They haven't taken any notice of us.
"There is also a mother here with small children who couldn't get her car out so had to take them to school on the bus, which is just unfair.
"It's also dangerous - what happens if one of them needs to go to the hospital in an emergency?
"It also affects our ability to run our businesses and we have had problems getting deliveries in and out.
"Tesco do not use this back entrance and instead block up the main road outside and the pavements, which is not good for customers."
Mr Wookey said: "It's also a health hazard, especially if it gets worse. We should not have this in the UK, it looks third world."
On Tuesday, after Mr Harris' wife Lynn had told Tesco they would call the press about the problem if nothing was done, the area manager finally got in touch.
Mr Harris said: "As soon as they thought they might get some bad publicity they called up and said they would try and remove it as soon as possible.
"We had been trying to get hold of the area manager for weeks and they wouldn't give us his number."
A Tesco spokesman said: "We always want to be a good neighbour in the communities we serve and will be working with the local authorities to help to prevent fly-tipping in the local area."
