BOSSES of Southampton’s Ikea store are pressing the council to let them open their car park earlier after a planning blunder.

The company failed to get permission to open its 900-space car park earlier than the store.

Ikea marketing manager Rob Cooper admitted there had been an oversight which had caused “a few queues”.

A spokesman for Southampton City Council confirmed that Ikea’s planning permission said the whole site could not open until 10am on weekdays, including the car park.

However, Ikea has been allowed to open its car park slightly earlier under planning rules, as it had lodged an application to change the opening times two days before the store opened.

Ikea wants to vary a planning condition to open the car park at 9.30am, 30 minutes before the store opens between Monday and Friday, and one hour before the store opens on Saturday and Sunday, at 8am and 9am.

The original “opening hours” condition was agreed by councillors to “control the impact of the development on traffic flows in the approach roads to the site”.