DULOCH residents who don't want a new McDonald's drive-thru restaurant built on Tesco's car park are going to stage a protest at the supermarket.

The aim is to park in the 67 spaces that will be lost when the burger giant moves in and highlight the traffic impact on the area, which locals believe is just one of the problems.

A new group, Duloch Against McDonald's, has organised the protest for Sunday, October 18, at 11am.

Spokesman Alan Gordon, of Plover Crescent, said: "Myself and other residents put in objections and I watched the council meeting where it was approved.

"It just seemed ridiculous.

"These are huge companies that are riding roughshod over local residents' wishes so I started the Facebook page and in less than a month it's got around 500 members.

"The chances of getting this stopped may be slim but we want them to understand the impact this is going to have on the people that live here."

He continued: "The aim is to fill the spaces that the McDonald's restaurant is going to take up and show the impact that traffic backing up will have.

"It will also raise awareness among residents who don't know about the plans and give Tesco food for thought about how it will affect their business.

"I don't think we'll have any problem filling the 67 spaces as people want to do something about this and make their feelings known."

Last month, the central and west planning committee approved plans for a two-storey McDonald's drive-thru restaurant to be built on the Tesco Extra car park off Turnstone Road.

There were 176 objections but councillors voted 11-3 in favour.

McDonald's said the new outlet, which will be in the northern section of the Tesco car park, across the road from the Aldi store, will create 65 jobs.

Mr Gordon, a business analyst with financial tech firm FNZ, said: "I don't think anyone is anti-McDonald's as such, it's the location that's wrong. And there are already two McDonald's within a mile.

"The car park is pretty full at the best of times, especially at weekends, and this will cause queues and traffic to build up.

"My kid goes to Duloch Primary School and it'll be more problematic to cross the roads.

"One of my big concerns is anti-social behaviour. That's not necessarily down to McDonald's but it's already an issue and this will give people a focal point."

Dunfermline North councillor Ian Ferguson said: "I was horrified by the proposal but got outvoted. The local councillors, the ones that live here and understand the issues, voted against.

"My view is there will be gridlock when they build this. I think it's busy enough as it is, you've also got the 20-30 parking spaces that people won't use when it rains and they're flooded.

"Tesco must be doing well out of selling the car park but to me it's madness. It's a case of planning being done to people, rather than for them.

"I'd love them to win and I've encouraged the local residents to keep going."

Martin Willcocks, from the Save Calais Woods Wildlife group, said: "We're trying to get people to object to this planning application as it will have a detrimental effect on the woods and the surrounding area in terms of pollution, littering and anti-social behaviour.

"A lot of people support our page and our conservation group is working alongside Duloch Against McDonald's to help set up this protest."