A NEW Costa Coffee could be built in the car park of a Morrisons store if new plans are approved.

An application for a drive thru coffee shop at the Five Lane Ends supermarket has been submitted to Bradford Council this week.

Submitted by the Bradford based supermarket, the plans say the cafe would “rejuvenate” an section of the site that is currently only used for parking, and would create around 15 full time jobs.

Around 75 parking spaces in the Idle supermarket’s 725 space car park will be lost once the 167 square metre cafe is constructed in the South end of the site.

The plans seek permission for the business to open from 5am to 11pm.

The application says: “The site layout has been driven by a desire to rejuvenate under used areas of the Morrisons existing car park. By incorporating a complementary use which can not only support linked trips but is also a strong enough brand that it can operate independently of the superstore.

Lidl and Costa drive-thru part of new Shipley Wharf Retail Park

“The proposed location within the car park is such that it will minimise disruption to the existing car park operation and minimal parking spaces will be lost.

“It will offer more choice to customers and generate new employment opportunities through the provision.

“WM Morrisons hope that the advantages of this proposal as well as the overall benefits to the local community will be supported.”

A transport report included with the application says the site could easily accommodate the new business, and would not suffer from the reduction in parking spaces.

A survey found even at the peak time for the store - 3.15pm on a Friday, the car park was only 76 per cent full, with 174 empty bays.

It suggests that around 40 per cent of the customers of the new cafe will be people who visited the site to shop at the supermarket or another store at the retail park. It adds: “

Earlier this year Bradford Council granted retrospective permission for the store to install three retail “pods” at the car park, a barbers, a vape shop and a branch of We Buy Any Car.

These small businesses are a short distance from the area the new Costa would be built.

With that application the company made similar arguments to the planning department, saying the extra businesses would boost employment and retail officer at the site.

A decision on the application is expected to be made by Bradford Council next month.

A similar drive thru Costa is under construction at the Shipley Wharf Retail Park site.