MCDONALD’S is set to re-develop one of its flagship East Lancashire stores.

The fast-food giant has applied for planning permission from Rossendale Council to carry out work at its Blackburn Road restaurant, in Rising Bridge.

The company recently acquired the vacant Little Chef building on the same site and intends to demolished it and use it as a drive-through lane, with a side-by-side ordering system.

The existing McDonald’s building will not be affected by the proposals.

In a design and access statement, McDonald’s said: “The intention of the alteration of the existing parallel process is to streamline and formalise the ordering process during peak trading times without the need to have members of staff outside of the building.

“This will also assist in reducing the length of the potential queue, by increasing the speed of preparing the orders and thus reducing congestion within the site during those busy periods.”

The proposals could also see the number of car parking spaces increase by 13 to a total of 66.