A major supermarket on an East Lancashire town centre gateway has been earmarked for a new fast food 'drive thru' restaurant.

Tesco wants to add a Burger King unit to the car park of the firm's Hill Street, Blackburn, store.

The company has applied for planning permission for the new drive thru which will create more than 20 jobs, if successful.

A supporting statement submitted to Blackburn with Darwen Council said: "The application site comprises an underutilised area of the customer car park to the south eastern extent of the wider Tesco site.

"The main superstore building lies approximately 100 metres to the north west of the application site.

"A petrol filling station lies to the north of the application site beyond the vehicular access from Gorse Street.

"The proposed building and associated drive thru’ lanes will be located within the eastern part of the site and the building will have a total floor area of 167 square metres.

"A total of eight car parking spaces will be provided to the front of the building, including two disabled bays and two. click and collect bays, with a total of 23 spaces provided.

"The main body of the building will be five metres in height with a flat roof design.

"The building will be predominantly finished in a horizontally-laid cladding system above a brick plinth, with a number of wood effect cladding columns incorporated into the design to add visual interest.

"A full height glazing system will wrap around the north western corner of the building accommodating the customer access with a canopy above.

"The drive thru’ windows will be contained within the rear of the building with an aluminium powder-coated sunscreen canopy above.

"The proposals represent significant capital investment in the area and will generate a number of additional job opportunities for local people in both the operational and construction phases development.

"The proposed drive thru’ will generate approximately 20 full time equivalent job opportunities across a range of roles with flexible shift patterns offered.

"The proposals will therefore provide flexible and high-quality job opportunities for local people.

"The drive thru’ model is a markedly different format and serves a different market to traditional high street restaurant uses.

"The business model requires a prominent location on a main arterial route with a high volume of vehicular traffic and / or locations next to large-scale retail and leisure destinations.

"The proposed units will occupy a highly prominent location lying on a main arterial route and has therefore been identified as a prime location for new drive thru’ facilities."

The plans will now be considered by the council and a decision made in due course.