HEALTH officials have stepped in to stop work on a high street supermarket.

Environmental health officers from Bexley Council called a halt to refurbishment work at Asda in Bexleyheath Broadway after a customer complained about the amount of dust.

Wesley Smith, 44 from Dorchester Avenue, Bexley, had gone to the store to meet his wife and do some shopping.

He told the News Shopper: "You could taste the dust in your mouth and hear the pneumatic drills overhead. But they were still cutting meat and making pizzas."

He said by the time he got to the checkout he had a splitting headache and complained about the dust, dirt and noise to the store's customer services manager.

But Mr Smith says he was told Bexley Council had stipulated the work could not be done at night.

Bexley says its officers went to the store following a complaint. There was dust caused by vibration from the work being done and the work was halted.

Council officials later had a meeting on site with Asda management to discuss the work.

The council says the work mustn't cause a noise nuisance beyond the boundary of the store.

Store manager Colin Strong said the work likely to cause dust was now being done at night.

He said: "We are trying to do as much as we can during the day without disturbing our customers too much."

Mr Stong said workmen were busy in the store all night but no noisy work was done after midnight.

He said the company was using dust guzzlers and sealing off areas with plastic to minimise the dust problem and no food was exposed to the dust.

He added: "We are carrying out major work to make the store safer and to expand our range of services."

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