AN ICONIC Basildon pub could be torn down to make way for a petrol station and drive through coffee shop.

A planning application has been submitted to Basildon Council to bulldoze the Dick Turpin pub in Southend Arterial Road, Wickford.

The much-loved pub was thought to have been lost to the coronavirus pandemic after operator Greene King announced it was shutting down permanently in November 2020, almost seven months after the first Covid lockdown.

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However, the pub was reopened in the summer of 2021 to great fanfare.

But now it looks like it’s future is once again in question, after filling station, convenience store and fast-food restaurant conglomerate EG Group submitted a bid to flatten the building to make way for a new petrol station.

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The plans include an ancillary shop, “food to go” offer, and drive thru coffee shop.

If approved by the council, the petrol filling station will be situated on the south eastern part of the site, with eight refuelling pumps, served by nine car parking spaces including two disabled bays.

The drive thru coffee shop will occupy the south western part of the site and will be served by 28 car parking spaces including eight electric vehicle (EV) charging spaces and two disabled bays.

“The drive thru will not function as a ‘destination in its own right’ and will instead provide a food and drink offer specifically for the benefit of passing motorists,” the planning application states.

EG Group is jointly owned by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital, the private equity firm the brothers partnered with to acquire Asda in 2021.

That same year the firm, which boasts the names of Cooplands and Go Fresh as under its control, purchased Leon Restaurants for a reported £100 million.