HADDINGTON will once again have a second petrol station.

Proposals for a filling station and shop on the western edge of the town have been given the green light.

The scheme, put forward by Euro Garages Ltd and EPIC (No 2) Ltd, is likely to create 20 jobs at Gateside.

A spokesman for Euro Garages said that there was still work to be done in terms of building warrants and access to the site.

He was unable to give any start date for work to get under way or confirm when the facility would be up and running.

The spokesman told the Courier the jobs would be a mix of full-time and part-time positions, with 15 of those expected to be part-time.

It is yet to be confirmed who will be operating the petrol station, with the Euro Garages’ website highlighting that the company partners “with prominent fuel brands such as Esso, BP, Shell and Texaco”.

Haddington’s community council commented on the plans while they were being considered by the local authority’s planning department.

Chris McEwan, planning liaison officer with the group, said there were concerns about the size of the shop within the petrol station.

However, he added: “I think it is great there is a second petrol station.

“Haddington had always had two petrol stations until the one at the Ideal Garage shut down.”

Drawings included within the planning application show four petrol pumps, with the possibility of vehicles being able to get fuel on both sides of the pump, with toilets within the shop.

Twelve parking spaces are included on the site, as well as two electrical charging points.

The development is planned for the former Gateside Commerce Park and former Oaktree Petrol Filling Station.

The filling station closed in the mid-1990s and was demolished a decade later.

Originally, the land was earmarked to be part of the site of a Sainsbury’s supermarket and petrol station, given the go-ahead seven years ago.

However, those plans stalled and the site was sold last year, with Ediston Property Investment Company acquiring the site, off West Road, for £2.75 million.

Separate plans for a retail park, which could be home to retailers such as Aldi, Home Bargains, Costa Coffee and The Food Warehouse, are being weighed up by the council’s planning department.

No decision has yet been made on those plans.

Currently, the town is home to a Jet petrol station, at By-Pass Service Station, which is owned by Andrew Aitken.

He told the Courier he had been there for 30 years and said: “I cannot say it is the best news that I have heard but the fact it is not a supermarket is good news.

“Nobody can compete with them.”