Shell has applied for planning permission for a knock down rebuild of its service station at Cannock in Staffordshire.

The plans include the demolition of a neighbouring bath showroom and using the extra space to build a bigger service station and a shop.

The new service station would include 10 pumps for cars and three pumps for lorries, and would operate a one-way system with the only entrance to the site located on Watling Street and the exit on Wolverhampton Road.

Currently the site has separate car and lorry filling stations with no access between them.

The new shop will include a deli with a hot food counter with six customer parking spaces outside.

In its application to Cannock Chase Council, Shell said there had been a trend of service station closures across the UK, with 35% shutting since 2003. Over the same period the number of vehicles on the road has increased by one fifth.

It said: “As such the redevelopment of the filling station needs to provide for a higher throughput. The existing station is therefore reaching the end of its life and the fuel tanks need replacing, hence the proposal to redevelop the site.”