The redevelopment of a Grade II listed property in Sandwich may mean the Sandwich Cars taxi firm is on the move, but there is no risk the business will close.

That is the firm message from partners Dave Atkins and Dean Macey after the go-ahead was given to a planning application that signals the firm’s departure from its Delf Street base.

Dave Atkins said the relocation will not be immediate and could be a long way off.

He said: “It definitely won’t be this side of Christmas.”

“Obviously we will be on the move, but when we don’t know.”

“Far from contracting or closing, we will be expanding” - Dave Atkins, Sandwich Cars

On Thursday, an application was granted for the change of use of the property and conversion into two dwellings and one self-contained flat.

Mr Atkins said: “Far from contracting or closing, we will be expanding.”

Mr Macey said: “We can’t close. We’ve got 15 people working here and work booked into next year.”

The landlords have offered the partners the equivalent of three months rent to find a suitable alternative.

Mr Atkins said they have one or two properties in mind.

Town councillor Sue Laslett on Thursday spoke against the plan as chairman of the Town Team.

She said Dover District Council was asking for the town centre to be updated, but had the local plan been processed before the planning application, the taxi office would have been saved.

“Planning officers are only looking at the conservation of the site, they’re not looking at the needs of the local community.”

Sandwich and district councillor Paul Carter deemed it the “wrong application in the wrong place.”

He said there is a queue of people wanting commercial properties in Sandwich, but they continue to allow changes of use from commercial to residential.

The committee said preserving a business premises is not adequate grounds for refusal, so the application was granted.