A frozen food chain is looking to move into a bigger town centre unit as it “outgrows” its current store.

Farmfoods is hoping to open a second site in the former Bensons for Beds in the Imperial Retail Park, Gravesend.

The unit has been empty since the bedroom furniture store closed in 2021 and now plans have been submitted to the council to change the use of the ground floor to retail sale of food and other non-food goods.

In a planning statement the applicant Box+III Gravesend Limited said the proposals would allow Farmfoods to move into the empty shop.

The supermarket has a 470 sq m store in the Thamesgate Shopping Centre but the plans state it “no longer meets [their] requirements for the Gravesend area”.

The grocery firm is seeking to fill the Imperial Retail Park unit, which is almost double the size at 928 sq m, to create a more “pleasant shopping experience”.

Yet, the property director at Farmfoods, Alistair Kay, told KentOnline that if the application is successful it would act as a second store.

He added: “There would be no immediate intention to close our existing shop.

“The potential new unit fits with our current size requirement to allow the full extent of our product range to be made available for customers. The site also benefits from convenient car parking.

“We look forward to the outcome of the planning application in due course.”

If plans are approved it would create around 25 jobs and, according to the planning statement, increase “consumer choice and competition in the market”.

It added: “The proposed development is being pursued to secure the long-term re-occupation of the unit.”

If Farmfoods were to open it would be the second supermarket at the retail park as Lidl opened in the former bowling alley.

You can view the plans here or by searching for reference 20231078 on the planning portal.

To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.

A decision is expected by the end of the month.