THE old Stannary Garage site in Tavistock's Ford Street is being monitored for contamination before being sold by petrol giant BP.
The garage was demolished after being closed down at the end of March and the fuel tanks were dug out and removed.
Barbara Peen, press spokesman for BP, said: 'We discovered that there had been very slight contamination of the soil where the tanks were.
'All that soil has been removed and a monitoring system has been put in place to make sure it is clean.'
Ms Peen said the system would remain in place for three months to make sure the ground was 'absolutely pristine'.
'Then it will be marketed — we don't know at this stage whether it will be sold for residential or commercial use,' said Ms Peen.
BP originally wanted to sell the site as a filling station, but after carrying out an environmental assessment the company decided it would 'uneconomic' to replace fuel tanks.
Until March Keith Selley had run Stannary Service Station — BP's decision to sell the site meant the loss of nine local jobs.