St Albans city centre petrol station set for upgrade

FUEL sales at one of the city centre’s few petrol stations have been suspended after an application was submitted for upgrading work - quashing rumours of its closure.

The consultation date to improve the Esso garage on London Road ended recently and the proposal is currently under consideration by planning officers.

Plans include modernising the underground infrastructure to keep up with environmental standards and replacing fuel tanks and pipe work.

The overall design, layout and access entrance of the petrol station, which has dispensed more fuel than the national average for its kind, will be unaltered.

But a worried resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, said staff at the popular service station recently told her the company were going bust and planned on closing the site.

With few petrol stations in the centre of St Albans the lack of fuel at the site sparked concern: “It is an inconvenience. It’s quite a way for centre of town folk to fill their cars up.

“The Verulam Road petrol station, Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s are the only ones close to there.”

But a spokesman for Esso owners ExxonMobil confirmed the work was going ahead: “This work will begin as soon as we have secured appropriate planning permission, and we hope to re-open the upgraded site before the end of the year.”

He added that the service station shop remains open for sales of groceries, snacks, newspapers, and magazines.