A CHANGE of use application has been put forward to change the former Car Wash Cafe on Church Street, Carlisle to a vehicle rental centre.

Harraby Green Associates Ltd has applied for change of use permission, on behalf of Hobans Self Drive Ltd,  following the Car Wash Cafe's closure due to 'pandemic-led labour market shortages'.

The property used to operate as a petrol filling station which later turned into an Enterprise car rental centre.

It was later transformed into the Car Wash Cafe, providing a staffed and self-service car wash with a side business offering drive-through coffee and food service via Bruce and Lukes Limited.

The car wash lane of the property is currently occupied by Intelijet Limited, a robotic car wash system.

The intention is to use the existing kiosk and its access and exit lane for a vehicle rental drop-off and pick-up centre.

The proposal focuses solely on the existing kiosk and the far lane of the site, leaving the rest of the site to Intelijet.

Hobans Self Drive Ltd has plans to operate a fleet of five vehicles that are ordinarily stored elsewhere.

Plans to implement a pre-booked time-slot system for car collection and drop off, to ensure minimal congestion are shown within the application.

“It is anticipated that there will be no more than two vehicles on-site at any one time,” the application reads.

The application indicates that the hours of the rental service will be between 8am - 5.30pm from Monday to Saturday.

The application proposes one full-time employee.