Dick Lovett is hoping to relocate its BMW and Mini dealership in Hungerford to the outskirts of Newbury to allow for expansion.

The operation will move to a new-build home 10 miles west of its current base, if local authority planners approve the construction project for single story showrooms for BMW and Mini, linked by a lounge space, plus a workshop, car wash and valet facilities.

Built at a cost of £7-8 million on land currently owned by farmers, it will have parking and display space for 290 cars.

In its pre-application, the dealer group said the Hungerford site is “simply unable to cope with anticipated growth required by BMW and Mini”.

It predicts the expansion will create a number of jobs. All existing staff from Hungerford will be offered the opportunity to relocate, it said, and the workforce would need to be expanded from around 60 to around 100 people.

Heading the project is Robert Gillespie of Impact Planning Services, who revealed at a public exhibition of the proposal this month that Dick Lovett had been searching for an expansion site since 2009, and had assessed 21 sites.

“Hungerford ran out of space and they want to be in a high-profile place that’s easy to get to and attract more customers,” he told Newbury Today.

“The type of customers who (will) come here expect a high-quality environment. It would be a prominent architectural feature in the town. People will use it as a focal point.”