COUNCIL bosses are set to rule on whether planning consent for a new supermarket will remain in place eight years after it was first granted.

Formal permission for a Booths store off Station Square in Grange was first awarded in 2008 before being passed for a second time in 2011.

Now the North West-based firm is seeking official confirmation that its current approval will continue into the future - arguing work began on site in the form of remedial drainage improvements two years ago.

Bosses within the company hope this will fulfil planning criteria which states work must start within four years of permission being granted in order for it to remain current.

Development experts within South Lakeland District Council are assessing the case before a final decision is taken.

The application to the authority for a lawful development certificate is the latest in a long-running saga on whether the firm will build a supermarket in the popular tourist town on the edge of Morecambe Bay.

The new branch would become the eighth store in Cumbria for Booths, which already operates supermarkets in Ulverston, Windermere, Milnthorpe, Kendal, Kirkby Lonsdale, Keswick and Penrith.

But despite repeated vows to continue the pursuit of a new supermarket at the former Vantage Toyota site in Grange, Booths bosses are yet to begin construction.

While the car dealership has moved to another location, the showroom is now temporarily in use as an Age Concern South Lakeland charity shop.

The application to SLDC states: "It would be lawful to continue the implementation of planning permission by virtue of the fact that a material operation has been carried out there by rendering the permission extant."

The permission in place is for the demolition of the existing car showroom before a new supermarket store is constructed in its place accessed from Windermere Road.

The car park would be available for public use with coach parking spaces available.

A new and extensive flood relief scheme for a culvert on the site is in the process of being pursued by the Environment Agency.