A TAXI firm will set up shop in a landmark hotel’s underground car park if plans for the work are given the green light.

Under the scheme, five of the 23 bays in the Keirby Park Hotel’s undergound car park will be allocated to the private hire firm.

The hotel, in Keirby Walk, is under new management, having undergone a revamp in recent months.

Applicant Mohammed Asjad, of RMA Developments, also wants to run a taxi booking office from the car park, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

But the planning application has been submitted to Burnley Council amid concerns there are already too many taxi offices and private hire firms in the town.

Tomorrow, the borough’s development control committee will discuss separate plans for a taxi booking office operating four vehicles, at Trafalgar Springs, in Lowerhouse Lane.

Seven letters of objection have been sent to Burnley Council’s planning officers, and 44 residents have signed a petition protesting over the Lowerhouse Lane proposal.

One of the letters says: “There are plenty of taxi firms already in Burnley.”

However, the plans have moved a step closer to approval after council officers lent the scheme their support.

Planning officer Lesley Blakey said: “The firm currently operates from premises at 31 Pendle Street, Padiham, which is within a residential area.

“The booking office will not be open to the public and the taxis will be out on the road most of the time.”

The development control committee, chaired by Coun Anne Kelly, will meet at Burnley Town Hall, from 6.30pm.