PLANS for a new DIY superstore have been submitted to Burnley Council.

The town could have a Homebase store by this time next year if the council grants planning permission.

If it gets the go-ahead it will be built on land off Caldervale Road, near the Focus Do It All store in Active Way.

The proposals are a joint venture between Homebase, part of the GUS retail group, and two property developers, Modus and the Gregory Group, both based in Leeds. Plans for the site include a garden centre, service yard and car park.

Richard Tovey from the Gregory Group said the store would improve an untidy piece of land on the fringes of the town centre.

He said: "There have been a lot of problems bringing forward a proposal for the use of that land. At one time it was blighted by the plans for a relief road, which later collapsed.

"It currently looks a bit of an eyesore and we feel that retail is about the only viable development on that part of the site. From when we get planning permission we would expect building work to take 12 months."

Mr Tovey said: "Homebase has been trying to get a store in Burnley for a number of years.

"It is unusual for a town the size of Burnley to have only one DIY retailer, so we believe there is a demand for a second."

He added that their plans and the plans to develop the Co-op Pioneer site into a new shopping and retail complex, called the Oval, would regenerate that part of the town.