SIGNS scattered around a Lake District town advertising a supermarket recruitment day have sparked anger among local residents.

The hand-made notices, highlighting a recruitment day for the new Tesco Express store, have been attached to lamp-posts throughout Windermere and Bowness.

The store is to open on the redeveloped Royal Hotel site in Bowness on August 10 and will bring 30 jobs to the area.

But Windermere and Bowness town centre manager Paul Holdsworth said he had received a number of complaints from local residents about the signs, saying they spoiled the town's appearance.

Mr Holdsworth questioned why Tesco, which last year made profits of £2.5 billion (£2,500,000,00), had felt the need to put up the hand-made posters throughout the town.

David McGowen, head of development management at the Lake District National Park Authority, said that the authority had launched an investigation into the signs' appearance.

He said that it was legal for a "non-commercial organisation" to post advertisements up to 0.6 of a square metre in size. However, permission from Cumbria County Council's highways department was needed if the notices appeared on "street furniture", he said.

But, he added, for a commercial organisation to post signs around a town was illegal.

Tesco spokeswoman Juliette Bishop said that the store was "investigating claims that posters have been placed in unsuitable places.

At a meeting of Windermere Town Council on Monday (June 25), members expressed concerns about plans for an automatic teller machine at the front of the building.

Councillors feared that the fact the ATM was close to a lay-by used for loading and unloading lorries at the store could lead to traffic problems in the area, with motorists wanting to use the ATM double-parking when the lay-by was full.

Councillors recommended that the national park authority should refuse the application because of highways concerns.