MAJOR plans to bulldoze a beloved pub to make way for a state of the art petrol station boasting shops and drive thru coffee business are up in the air.

A planning application to demolish the Dick Turpin pub in Southend Arterial Road, Wickford, submitted last month has been removed from Basildon Council’s planning portal.

The council says the application has be taken down temporarily while “supplementary information” is supplied by the developer – filling station, convenience store and fast-food restaurant conglomerate EG Group.

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

The firm has refused to comment on the plans.

Long-time customer of the pub Adam Ball, 47, said: “I would like to think the pub has got another stay of execution.

The chairman of the Southend Shakedown Association, a motorcycling group which often use the pub as a base to meet at, added: “There are already so many petrol stations along that road that I’m not really sure it needs another one.

“We will wait and see, maybe it happens maybe it doesn’t, but if the pub does get knocked down it will be a very sad day indeed.”

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.

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

A Greene King spokesman said: “We are exploring the options for the Dick Turpin given the current market and economic environment and are working with EG Group Limited who have submitted a planning application for an alternative use. The site will remain open and trading as normal for the coming months and we’ve already made the team fully aware of the situation.”

A Basildon Council spokesman said: “The application has been temporarily taken down as we are awaiting supplementary information from the developer before publication. Once these reports are complete the application will be made available for view and comment.”