Retrospective permission has been sought for a second-hand sales car ‘pod’ in the car park of a Tavistock supermarket.

WeBuyAnyCar.com has applied to West Devon Borough Council for approval to construct a ‘pod’ in Morrisons car park off Plymouth Road (ref: 0026/26/FUL).

Visitors to the supermarket this week have reported that the unit is already in place.

The application, which can be viewed on the planning section of the WDBC website, states that the pod is an ‘off-grid unit’ powered by solar panels on the roof, designed by Whittam Cox Architects.

It is designed as a drop off point for sellers of used cars to teh company which is well-known, as its name suggests, for selling vehicles in any condition.

The company says that cars dropped off by sellers will then be driven away to be sold at auction elsewhere “on an almost daily basis”.

Ten cars at most would park up beside the unit at one time, with ‘more likely four to six on a normal day’, the company states.

A statement issued by the company read: “The cars stay on site for a maximum of 72 hours but this is normally a much shorter period. The cars will be removed from site through individual vehicle collections where drivers will be dropped off at sites and each will drive a single vehicles off site to a WebuyAnyCar.com auction site located within the locality. The drivers collecting vehicles are professional drivers who collect and deliver vehicles for a living, using a special set of temporary registration plates when doing so.

The company added: “WeBuyAnyCar.com have very little impact on a site as they make use of spaces out of the way from where Morrisons customers normally park. The sites are controlled by their national systems, to which all their transport teams have access to and can prioritise collections accordingly.”

Devon & Cornwall Police, consulted on the application, said: “It is noted and welcomed that the vehicles once bought by the company will be at the location for no more than 72 hours. It is assumed from the photos that the unit will also have CCTV which is supported.”

Tavistock Town Council asked the company to “ensure that the number of spaces used is controlled and that there are still parking spaces available to shoppers”.

Comments can be submitted on the application to WDBC via the planning section of their website by February 19.