A businessman feels he has been “kicked in the teeth” after a leading developer lodged an objection over a planning application he submitted to councillors in May.

Dover-based CMW Group - which specialises in car rentals, washing and sales - is seeking permission from Dover District Council to maintain the business he has run there for three and a half years.

The manager, Gary Amner, was shocked to see some 27 objections materialise – one from Dover Town Investment Zone developers Bond City.

They say the car wash may cause traffic problems for their plans to regenerate the St James' area in the town centre.

Mr Amner said: “We have been here three and a half years and we have built the business up.

“We have had a lot of meetings with the council and everything has been done properly.

“But it seems every time we make a bit of headway we are hit with something else.”

The objection, written by Jack Garner on behalf of Bond City, said: “Our main concern is that the proposal will cause severe traffic problems along Maison Dieu Road and Woolcomber Street.

“We had to go to extreme lengths to devise a new traffic system into our scheme to avoid adverse traffic problems in the area.

“One element is a planned junction onto Woolcomber Street, this will be the main entrance.

“At peak times it has been estimated that there could be around 1,364 traffic flows per hour for the entire scheme." - Jack Garner, on behalf of Bond City

“At peak times it has been estimated that there could be around 1,364 traffic flows per hour for the entire scheme."

“This means Maison Dieu Road could have around 546 extra vehicles travelling along it per hour.

“The risk posed by a queue of vehicles for the proposed car wash on Maison Dieu Road could cause a catastrophic knock-on effect to the roads in the vicinity, especially given that Woolcomber Street joins Townwall Street (A20) which carries all of the traffic to and from the Eastern Docks.”

Among other objections have been complaints about its location in front of a Grade II listed building, the noise it makes and how “unsuitable” it is for a conservation area.

Mr Amner, said he was shocked and disappointed, adding: “We don’t want the staff to lose their jobs. We have 10 part-time jobs here.

“This site used to be a hovel, everything was in an awful state.”

To read the full report, pick up a copy of this week's Mercury, out now.