Closure threat for truck site

A truck stop near Wolverhampton is under threat of closure because its owners want to replace it with a huge warehouse, the Express & Star can reveal.

Kilmartin Properties are poised to submit plans for a 23,000 square metre building on the site of the Nightowl truck stop on the A460 Cannock Road, near junction 1 of the M54.

Another Nightowl truck stop, at Alconbury, Cambridgeshire, recently closed under a similar plan, causing a storm of protest among HGV drivers.

South Staffordshire District Council has confirmed it was aware of Kilmartin Properties' proposals, although an application had not been received.Today, visitors to the truck stop said it was vital in the area. Truck driver Brian McDonald, aged 50 and from Dagenham, said: "I pop in whenever I am around. It will be sad if it closes."

Edward Breen, 51, from Kent, was in the cafe with wife Joan and son Michael on their way back from a holiday in Ireland. Mr Breen said: "It will be a disgrace if this place closes."

Rachel Canning, assistant manager of Nightowl Wolverhampton, said staff had not been told exactly what was happening to the site.

Kilmartin Properties was unavailable for comment.