A plan to open a Greenodd petrol station 24 hours a day has ignited strong opposition in the community.

Some 58 letters of objection have landed on the desks of South Lakeland District Council's planning department in response to plans for the Hurley and Peake Service Station, just off the A5092.

Applicant Ian Curwen is hoping to re-open the garage, offering petrol and garage-shop fare at all hours. He also wants to establish a new vehicle recovery business on land at the back of the petrol station and put up a new security fence.

But residents and the parish council fear the long opening hours will bring noise, litter and possibly "less desirable elements of society" into their neighbourhood, which they say is under-policed.

Some neighbours were also worried that the storage of broken-down vehicles would prove unsightly and that the petrol station's shop would threaten Greenodd's three other shops.

However, despite the parish council's objections, it stressed in its letter to SLDC that it did not with to prevent businesses operating in the area but felt that it must ensure proposals were not detrimental to the residents or the area's character.

Mr Curwen, who owns the Moorland Service Station at Kirkby-in-Furness and a vehicle recovery business operating from Kirkby and Eskdale Green near Sellafield, believes his operation will be good news for Greenodd.

"When we have done what we propose to do the site will look much tidier, and the premises will be made to look modern and tidy."

He also stressed that the plans would create "probably half-a-dozen jobs" at a time of big job losses in Furness at BAE Systems and Glaxo. One Greenodd man has already been taken on by the firm which Mr Curwen started with his brother 13 years ago and which now employs 22 people.

Fears over the 24-hour operation of the business were, in his view, overstated. He said there was already planning permission for round the clock opening which the previous garage owners briefly made use of.

SLDC's planning committee was due to rule on the application last Thursday but chose to inspect the site before arriving at its decision. The committee should now make its ruling on February 18 after a site visit the previous Tuesday.

February 7, 2003 10:00