A SECOND Costa Coffee store could open in Accrington.

The national chain has submitted an application to open a new 24-hour coffee shop and drive-through in Hyndburn Road in the town.

If the development goes ahead, Costa bosses say they hope to create 16 new full-time jobs, which they expect to be filled by people local to the area.

The chain already has a branch in the Broadway shopping centre in Accrington town centre, which would remain open.

A design and access statement submitted as part of the application reads: “The proposed drive-through coffee shop format is not suitable within Accrington’s town centre.

“The proposed drive-through coffee shop is a materially different business format to a traditional high street coffee shop. The drive-through business model requires a prominent and visible roadside location that has a high volume of passing traffic.

“The site’s prominent location off Hyndburn Road leading into Accrington town centre makes this site suitable for the drive-through coffee shop business model.

“In Accrington town centre and in parts of the shopping core, there are some streets which are pedestrianised and have restricted access i.e. bus lanes. “There are no A-roads in the town centre and many of the streets are quite narrow.

“As such, there are no sites in the town centre that would meet the basic site requirements to deliver a business format based on a drive-through.

“The drive-through element will offer convenience to patrons and will complement the nearby retail and leisure uses which are further along Hyndburn Road, such as Asda, Lidl, Matalan, and Vue Cinema.

“The proposed development is compatible with these neighbouring uses and is of a type and scale which will assimilate with the character of the surrounding area and other retails uses along Hyndburn Road.”

If approved, there would be 33 parking spaces on the site, with three of them being reserved for blue badge holders.

Access would be off the existing priority junction on Hyndburn Road, with the site access road to be widened to six metres to support two-way movements in and out of the proposed car park.

The proposed development is located opposite Hyndburn Park Primary School near Gatty Park.