A COFFEE shop giant has plans to open a drive thru restaurant in Barrow which is expected to create 20 jobs.

Costa Coffee wants to locate the new venture on undeveloped land at Cocken Villa, Walney Road. The site is next to Domino's Pizza and the Travelodge hotel.

Plans have been submitted to Barrow Borough Council for the restaurant with drive thru lane and a supporting car park.

The documents received by town planners says the restaurant is proposed to have 20 employees. It also says that the planned opening times would be between 5am to 10pm.

The design and access statement, submitted by Bradbury Consulting says: "The proposal seeks to create a new Costa Coffee Class A3 unit with drive thru facilities and associated drive thru lane, to serve the surrounding residents / businesses as well as passing commuters on this busy route."

The plans say vehicle access will be from Walney Road, close to the Travelodge, and also from Phoenix Road.

This would be the third Costa Coffee outlet in the town after the Dalton Road and Hindpool Retail Park shops.

There are already more than 45 Costa Coffee drive thru restaurants in the UK. The first opened in the North West was in Chester.

Costa Coffee says its drive thru stores offer "something new to those who are on the move and are "looking for a great coffee without the wait". Customers can grab a take away coffee and food, or drink and eat in the restaurant.

There are due to be two Barrow borough planning committee meetings in November, it is not known if the plan is to go before the committee next month.

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