THE OWNER of a 60-year-old business in North Tawton is making a last-ditch attempt to keep his firm going by seeking planning permission for a new site outside the development boundary.

Bloggs Garage is as much part of North Tawton Town Centre as the post office and town hall but the bulldozers will be moving in imminently to convert the site into a 40-space public car park and sheltered housing flats.

Owner Bob Turland has been searching for alternative land to relocate his business for more than a year but he has been hampered by a lack of industrial land in North Tawton.

He said this week his decision to submit a planning application for a garage business on land on the outskirts of town known as ?Strawberry Field? was a ?last-ditch attempt? to save Bloggs from disappearing into oblivion.

The top part of ?Strawberry Field?, which was formerly a market garden, is within the development boundary and is earmarked for housing but the bottom falls outside the boundary which means planners will have to find over-riding factors to justify approving the application.

Mr Turland said being an employment provider and a long established business in the town with a large customer base, he hoped local people and West Devon Borough Council?s planning committee would support his plans.

?We have been under pressure for over ten years to sell the site for a car park to ease traffic congestion in North Tawton because of our central position in the town,? he said.

?Never in my wildest dreams, however, did I imagine that Bloggs would be closing ? it was always the intention to relocate, but now there is a big question mark hanging over the business.?

Bodywork and petrol sales are being discontinued and Bloggs will only continue as an MOT repair and service station if and when it relocates.

Mr Turland is pre-empting any concerns from local residents about possible smells coming from the premises as the closure of the bodyshop would mean the eradication of paint fumes.

He said: ?We are going to be a smaller enterprise but the workforce will stay the same.

?If we go there will be no other MOT testing facility in North Tawton and nearly 800 customers, 500 of whom live in North Tawton, will have to find alternative services.?

The garage owner said that over 60 years, the last 20 of which he had been at the helm, Bloggs had built a reputation of trust with the public and hence business had continued to boom.

?North Tawton is a small town but it is totally self-sufficient with a wide range of shops and services ? it is important we fight to keep them,? he added.

Planning officer John Milverton said there was presently a restricted number of sites for industrial use in North Tawton, but in the new local plan some new land was being allocated at the old railway station. This, however, would be too late for Bloggs Garage.

?The main issue that the planning committee will have to consider is whether there are any over-riding factors to justify granting consent for this application which is outside the development boundary,? he said. ?The nearest property would be about 80 metres away from the site.?

The proposal will be discussed by West Devon Borough Council?s planning committee in the New Year.